


Help! My Boyfriend is Too Innocent to be an Incubus!

by Wolfbeware



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: M/M, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Universe, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:20:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 54,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26519644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfbeware/pseuds/Wolfbeware
Summary: Hoji returns back to the village of Kutabe, meeting again with Andrius -- a man the party had met during their adventuring, to finally be able to confess his feelings.
Kudos: 1





	1. Back in Kutabe

**Author's Note:**

> To preface, I never intended on sharing this book. I've worked on this book late April of this year (2020), purely for myself -- a passion project. However, after I edited it for months, I have finally decided to drop the project, despite being nearly done. That isn't to say that this story does not have an ending, but the story itself is rough and messy; there may be grammar mistakes and sentence errors, possibly entire paragraph sections that I absolutely hate. However, after it molding away in my google documents for two months, I've decided I needed to share it -- even if I don't necessarily think it is that good/polished. I simply need it off of my chest. 
> 
> Thank you for partaking on my quarantine passion project.
> 
> Thanks to my Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master to get me to have a real-life gay panic that inspired this entire book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the title of the book was originally a joke title. It still is. I have no intention on changing it.

"Hoji!" a tall young tiefling man yells from across the stone path.

A shorter half-oni, perks up, "Oh, Andrius!"

Andrius smiles ear-to-ear. His excitement can barely be contained as he starts walking towards Hoji. Each of his steps bounce until his fast walking becomes a light jog, as he fumbles with the books in his hands. 

Hoji smiles as he sees Andrius’ excited expression comes into view. Feeling his heart bounce around in his chest, Hoji spreads his arms towards Andrius.

Andrius excitedly wraps his arms around Hoji, letting his chest hit onto Hoji hard.

Embracing for a few moments, the two of them feel the warmth in the other’s chest. Hearts beating fast, the two of them enjoy those few moments.

Andrius lets go of Hoji and quickly brings his hand to the nape of his neck. Laughing, Andrius blushes as he says, “Sorry, I’m just glad to see you’re back.”

Hoji smiles, “I’m glad to see you too.”

Andrius grins, “How was Tenno?"

"Good! We got there right when things were getting bad, so me and the adventuring party were able to help out.”

"That’s good to hear!” Andrius smiles softly. He quickly looks around, "Where are they? Did they not come with you?"

"Oh, um- no, they decided to stay in Tenno for a bit longer, so it’s just me,” Hoji laughs nervously, “I felt a little out of place at Tenno -- not enough forests around."

Andrius nods, "Tenno is a bit much, even for me, but why come back here? Wouldn't you want to visit the Aoyama Tribe north of here?"

Hoji’s tone shifts. His once happy nervousness contorts into a worried sadness, "Oh… I… I don't think they want me there…” 

Andrius doesn’t pick up on Hoji’s shift of tone. Looking at Hoji confused, he asks, "Aren't you from there...?"

"Yes, but I…” Hoji’s hands rise defensively, “Actually, I have to go."

Andrius gives Hoji a worried look, "Oh, sorry did I-"

Hoji cuts him off, "You didn't do anything, don't worry.” Avoiding eye contact, Hoji’s hand nervously grips onto his upper arm, "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay…” Andrius says disappointedly, waving an awkward goodbye.

Hoji forces a smile. This isn’t exactly what he expected first thing back, but Andrius doesn’t know. It’s not his fault. Hoji sighs as he steps away from Andrius.

Watching as Hoji walks away, Andrius feels his chest tighten. He feels the need at the back of his throat to apologize again, but Hoji is already outside of hearing distance. 

"That display of romance was terrible!” a skinny elf man says, coming up behind Andrius and patting his hand on Andirus’ shoulder, "You should have brought him flowers!”

"How was I supposed to know he was back?" Andrius sighs.

“You knew that he would come back, didn’t you?" the elf says confidently.

"So what if I knew? You want me to keep flowers on me at all times?” Andrius turns to look at the elf, and with a sass in his voice, he says, “Is really that what you want to do, Jandor?”

Jandor ponders for a moment, "Yes."

Andrius sighs, "You realize that's impractical right? I'm a tiefling, not a god."

"And? You could have kept it in water.”

"Yeah, while we're working."

Jandor looks down at the books the two of them are carrying, "Yeah, even while we’re working."

Andrius sighs again, before the two begin walking towards the library.

\---

Walking into the humid air of the bathhouse, Hoji feels a wave of relief wash over him. It’s been a while since he’s been alone like this. He has been in the busy crowds of Tenno for months and traveling with his party for even longer. This is the first time in a long time that Hoji has been able to make decisions without the concern of others, and he feels free from the busy life of an adventurer. Stepping into the hot water, Hoji finally sees his own natural tan skin tone rather than the dirt and dust that once covered it. Bringing himself lower in the bath, he feels the hot water pinch at his scars on his chest and back. Sighing in relief, he completely sits down, letting the warm water climb up his torso until it reaches his neck. Holding his knees up to his chest, he sits there calmly and silently as he adjusts to the warm water. Closing his eyes, he sighs. With his thoughts starting to wander, they seem to fixate on his interaction with Andrius an hour ago. 

“He sure was happy to see me,” Hoji mumbles to himself, staring down into the steamy water. Andrius was definitely excited to see Hoji, this Hoji knew to be true. However, what Hoji questions is why. It has only been a few months since he and his party left for Tenno, and if Andrius did miss him in that short amount of time, then why? It is not as if he had said anything to Andrius before he left. Hoji sighs and grabs one of his small nubby horns trying to think.

On the other side of town, Andrius finds himself back in his small dorm room. The room itself feels more like a hallway with a variety of furniture more than an actual living space. Despite that, Andrius has been living in this room for a year now and feels as if it was practically his home away from home.

Placing his keys on the table, Andrius walks past his closet and his mirror to get to his desk. He glances at himself in the mirror as he walks by and notices that his stubble is starting to grow out again.

After a few steps towards his desk, Andrius walks back to look at himself in the mirror. Standing in front of it, he lifts his chin and stretches his neck to examine his appearance. The hair on his chin and neck are starting to make his face itch; his ram-like horns look a little rougher than usual, and when he opens his mouth to examine his fangs, Andrius notices that they are starting to yellow.

"Gods, did Hoji see me like this?" Andrius mumbles to himself.

Grabbing his shaving knife and polishers from his closet, Andrius stands in front of the mirror until he feels confident in his own appearance again. After thirty minutes, Andrius stops to look over himself and confidently smiles.

Moving his gaze back to his messy desk, Andrius sighs, "Right, finals."

Andrius is quick to place down his shaving knife and polishers wherever is convenient, not paying much attention to where they land. Walking over to his desk, he falls into his chair. Looking down, he realizes that his messy desk looks the same as it did yesterday. Several books that still lay open covered in Infernal notes, and the open inkwells he had forgotten to close peacefully sit there, completely dry. After grabbing a new ink well, Andrius pulls down one of the books in the bookshelf above and begins studying.

However, after a few hours of work, Andrius finds himself distracted. A particularly difficult problem causes him to look towards the window and wonder what Hoji is doing. Andrius assumes that he is asleep at this point in the night; it is late, after all. Thinking about how Hoji stayed in the Kutabe inn when he was here a few months ago, Andrius wonders if Hoji is sleeping there now. Hoji doesn’t seem like the one who would actively search for a nicer place to stay. Even while he was in Tenno, Hoji probably slept in the most uncomfortable bed in existence while saving hundreds of lives. Andrius will never understand why Hoji is willing to save so many people, yet never gives himself a luxury. Andrius sighs, he could never live up to that. Hoji is an adventurer; he actively goes out and helps people, and what does Andrius do? Study in hopes of one day becoming the royal researcher? Even if it is guaranteed for Andrius to become a royal researcher, where does that leave Hoji? Hoji would never settle down with a guy who has barely left his hometown. Hoji has traveled the world; he has been to Chenshu and Tenno -- two major cities on opposite sides of the world. How could he possibly want to stay in a place like Kutabe? Andrius lets his head fall into his arms. After a few seconds of silence, he decides he is done studying for the night. 

When Andrius wakes up, he grabs his watch from his desk to check the time. It was 2:34 in the afternoon, which means that half the day is already gone. After a groan of anger, he rolls out of bed to sit down at his desk.

However, once he sits down, he realizes that his thoughts are about Hoji again. Putting his quill down, Andrius stands up.

He starts pacing back and forth in his dorm, thinking hard of what he is going to do now that Hoji is in town. Andrius thinks about the possibility of bringing Hoji to the cafe they went to before. That cafe reopened a few days ago, and Andrius remembers that they both enjoyed the ice cream they got from there. However, as much as Andrius enjoys the thought of getting ice cream with Hoji tomorrow afternoon, he quickly realizes he may not be able to do that. The next few weeks for Andrius is going to be filled with long ten hour study days, and if he wants to do something with Hoji, it would have to be at night. Today may be the only day he has free for the next week, and if he wants to invite Hoji out for dinner, Andrius is going to have to ask him out today. 

Andrius’ hooves clack against the wooden flooring of his dorm as he continues pacing. He starts mumbling to himself, "Would Hoji even want to go out for dinner? He would, right? But yesterday went so poorly. I would understand if he didn't want to talk to me today, but there's no harm in asking, right?"

Andrius sighs and stops in front of his mirror. After taking a deep breath, he looks himself in the eyes, "Alright, Andrius. You just need to ask him. That’s it. That’s all. Just say: ‘Hey, Hoji, do you want to…’ No, that’s too direct. ‘Hoji, I was wondering if...’ No, too passive. ‘Hoji, would you like to... uh-’ shit. I'm just asking him if he wants to go to dinner. That I want to- That I want to catch up. ‘Hey, Hoji, we ended on a bad note yesterday, and I... and I-’"

Andrius groans and leans on the shelf in front of his mirror, "You can’t say that."

Looking back up at himself, Andrius notices the worry in his own eyes, before hearing a knock at his door.

"Are you done talking to that imaginary Hoji yet?" a muffled voice comes through the door, "You know that you just talk to him, right?"

"Yes, Jandor, I know!" Andrius yells towards the door. Walking over and opening his door, he annoyedly asks, "What do you want?"

Jandor stands there with a grin on his face. His hair is somewhat messy, but that is how it usually is. His tall pointed ears twitch while he speaks. “I want you to stop talking to yourself,” Jandor says with a sting in his voice, “We share a wall, Andrius."

"How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it."

"Great, well, I have to go," Andrius says as he tries to push past Jandor.

Jandor stomps in front of Andrius' hoof, "Not so fast. You should buy him flowers."

"Wouldn't flowers be a bit too obvious?"

"No, of course not. You’re asking him out.”

"Not on a date!"

"Yeah, tell that to your bedsheets you washed yesterday."

Andrius glares at Jandor's know-it-all look on his face and sounds defeated when he says, "Fine, I'll get him flowers."

"That's what I thought. Let’s go," Jandor pulls Andrius to the flower shop.

When they arrive, Andrius sees that the flower shop is full of beautifully colored bouquets, floral aromas, and people. He hears that the patrons are chatting about how beautiful this spring’s bloom is, and as he looks around, he can agree that the colors of each of the flowers are much more vibrant than last year.

Jandor nudges Andrius’ side, "What type of flowers does Hoji like?"

Andrius thinks for a moment. He never asked Hoji what his favorite flower was, but he is a druid; wouldn't he like any type of flowers? Wait, is that stereotyping? Oh no, is that stereotyping?

"Andry? Did you hear me?"

"Oh, uh- yeah, I did. I just- um- I don't know,” Andrius rubs the nape of his neck.

"Do you know his favorite color, at least?"

"N- No,” Andrius avoids eye contact.

"By gods, you are hopeless," Jandor shakes his head, "Never once, to all the restaurants and cafes you brought him to, you never asked him what his favorite color is?"

"It never came up? I mean, what conversation do you have where someone blatantly asks 'what is your favorite color?'"

"The flirtatious kind," Jandor sighs.

"R- Really?!"

"Good gods, alright, just pick out the flowers that remind you of him."

"What?"

"It's sentimental. I think he would appreciate that."

"B- But what if he doesn't like them?"

"Andrius, I'm sure he'll like them. I would bet twenty gold that he would be happy with wild flowers, as long as they're from you."

"What’s that supposed to mean?”

"Forget it, just pick out the flowers."

After an hour of perusing and bickering, Andrius and Jandor finally decide on some pink peonies, their faded pink coloration reminds Andrius of Hoji's horns. As he buys a bouquet of them, Andrius feels his stomach rise to his throat. What if Hoji doesn’t like peonies? Would he even accept flowers? Does he even like flowers?

Andrius’ heart pounds throughout his whole body as they walk over to the Kutabe inn. Once the two of them stand in front of the entrance, he can’t bring himself to move any further.

“Andry, I don’t understand why you’re so nervous,” Jandor comments on Andrius’ trembling, “What’s he going to do?”

Andrius’ words shake when he speaks, “S- Say no.”

Jandor shakes his head, “That isn’t what is going to happen.” Pushing Andrius through the door, he says, “Go on then. I’ll be here when you’re done, okay?”

Andrius loosens his collar and steps inside. The door loudly closes behind him, leaving Jandor alone outside.

Jandor waits patiently for good news. He is feeling pretty confident with himself, since he knows Hoji is going to say yes, despite Andrius not thinking so. It has been obvious to Jandor that Hoji had liked Andrius since he met Hoji, but he has doubts that Andrius has even noticed. Andrius may be on a clear path of becoming a royal researcher, but he knows next to nothing about love. 

Jandor leans back on the wall. He still cannot believe that Andrius is the first one to get a romantic partner of their friend group. In all seriousness, Jandor thought Andrius would be the least likely to find a date out of the three of them. He is so dense that Hoji has held his hand, and he still did not pick up on Hoji’s advances. Not to mention, how they hugged each other yesterday was a pretty obvious sign that they each wanted to be more than just friends. However, Jandor doubts that Andrius has even the slightest idea. He sighs. 

As Andrius’ hooves step down on the pressed down dirt in front of him, Jandor perks up.

Andrius’ glare sticks to the floor. He shakily holds the bouquet tightly in both of his hands. His shoulders tense up. His stomach is still pushing up against his throat, feeling almost as if he is going to puke when he speaks, “H- Hey.”

“Everything go alright?” Jandor says with concern.

"He wasn't there…”

Jandor yells, "He wasn't?!"

"I- I only guessed he would be here."

"You guessed?! You didn't seek him out yesterday?!"

"No, I… I was busy yesterday, so I didn’t- I didn’t get the chance to look for him."

Jandor shakes his head in frustration, "Alright, well, where do you think he could be now?"

Andrius' hand reaches to rub the nape of his neck, "Anywhere, really."

"Come on Andrius, you already sound as if you’re going to give up."

"B- But how am I supposed to ask him out, if I can't even find him?"

"We go find him."

Andrius looks up, "Wh- What?"

"Come on," Jandor grabs Andrius’ wrist, quickly turns around, and starts walking.

Stumbling behind him, Andrius exclaims, "Where are we going?!"

"We’re going to find Hoji!"

Jandor and Andrius determinedly wander all over town. The town is bustling with people on this Saturday afternoon, so it is difficult for the two of them to stay together in the large crowds. Despite that, they visit every restaurant, park, tavern, stable, and store in town, in an attempt to find Hoji.

The afternoon quickly fades to sunset. The crowd begins to die down, and Jandor and Andrius find much less difficulty wandering the streets. However, Andrius’ hopes of finding Hoji begin to wither away as he watches the sun slowly fall down over the horizon.

Sunset quickly turns to nightfall. As the cafes and stores begin closing, the two friends find themselves sitting on a bench outside the inn.

"He has to come back to the inn, right?" Andrius asks, feeling nearly defeated.

Jandor pulls out his pocket watch, "It's 10:54 at night."

"I'm taking that as a no," Andrius stands up, "I'm heading back to my dorm. I need to study tomorrow.”

After walking away, Andrius steps up to his door and sighs. Unlocking his dorm’s door, Andrius looks down at the peonies he is still holding disappointly. As he walks through his cramped living space, he places the peonies on his desk haphazardly, before collapsing onto his bed.

The next morning, Andrius wakes up earlier than usual. He immediately gets up, moves the peonies to the shelf in front of his mirror, and starts studying. 

When mid-morning comes, his notes scatter across his desk, books lay open on the bed, and ink covers his hands and claws.

A knock comes through the door, and Andrius’ brow furrows. He starts yelling towards the door, "Jandor, I told you! I'm studying today!” Andrius angrily stands up and begins stomping towards the door, “I understand that you want to help me with my romantic endeavors because you think you're better at it than I am, but there is no way that I'm going back outside to look for him like we did yesterday! So, please just-"

Andrius slams open the door. His face turns pale, “H- Hoji.”

"H- Hey," Hoji is trembling, "D- Did I come at a bad time?"

"I-" Andrius stops and stares at Hoji for a moment, "S- Sorry, no, you- you didn’t. Uh- It’s- It’s just- um- I was- I was just in a deep focus is- is all."

"Sorry for interrupting you, but I- I was-" Hoji takes a deep breath and tenses up, "I was wondering if you'd want to go out tomorrow."

"O- Oh. Um- Yeah, I think- I think I want to do that."

Hoji lets out a sigh of relief, as if he'd been holding his breath for the past several minutes. "Um- Do you- Do you remember that one place- um- the one with the cold- uh- dessert?

"Ice cream?"

"Yeah! Sorry, I forgot what it was called. W- Would you like to go there?"

"Uh- Sure, but I need to study tomorrow."

"Right, the uh- the professor told me that you had a test coming up. How does- Um- How does sunset sound? You'd be done studying for the day by then, right?"

"Yeah, I- I would be."

"So can you go?"

"Y- Yeah."

"Alright, um- I have to go do- uh-" Hoji pauses for a moment, "Hoji things! Bye!"

"Oh, bye?" Andrius awkwardly says as he waves goodbye.

Hoji practically runs away, his face flushed a bright red.

After ten minutes of tense walking, Hoji makes it back to the clearing he found deep in the forest yesterday, although now he has a lot more on his mind than he did before. Once he places down his bag, he lays down in the loose dirt and shuts his eyes to calm down.

After a few minutes of waiting for his breath to slow, his eyelids flutter open. His upward stare meets the eyes of a young doe. 

She looks down at Hoji curiously. Her fur is light, even for a doe, and her gaze focuses on Hoji’s eyes. Tilting her head, she notices Hoji’s hand rise. As he puts his hand under her chin, she jumps back for a moment. After a few seconds of waiting, she cautiously walks up and sniffs his hand. Putting her cheek onto his palm, she accepts Hoji’s petting, going so far as closing her eyes in enjoyment.

A rustle in a nearby bush alerts them both, before the doe skips away back into the trees. Cautious of what is nearby, Hoji stays alert, as the sounds of the forest gather around him once again.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Hoji decides that it must have just been the wind. He lays on his back and ponders about what Andrius was shouting about earlier. Hoji only heard a rough approximation of what Andrius was yelling about, but there is a phrase that made Hoji’s stomach tie into a knot: romantic endeavors. Hoji thought coming here would help, but alas it has yet to relieve the worry that he feels deep in his chest. Is Andrius already in a romantic relationship with someone? If so, who? Were the flowers on his shelf for them? Hoji's thoughts spiral. He can’t shake the feeling that Andrius might not have feelings for him the same way he does. 

Hoji never confessed his feelings towards Andrius. He has always feared the possibility that they would never see each other again, especially while he was in Tenno. Now that he is back in Kutabe, being distant is all he understands. However, considering that Andrius is studying for his exams, being distant may be his only option. It isn’t like they would be able to be together much, and Hoji doesn’t want to interfere in Andrius’ clear path to becoming the royal researcher. 

However, Hoji cannot imagine himself keeping these feelings to himself for much longer.

He sighs.

Hours pass before Hoji returns to the inn. When he does return to his small room, he feels an awkward tightness in his chest. Laying down on the bed and curling up into a ball, Hoji finds his mind fixated on Andrius. His shoulders tense as he thinks about how he will confess. His fingers tighten as he thinks about how Andrius would react. His jaw clenches as the various conversations play in his head. Various versions of the same scene with a multitude of different endings echo in his head, not one of them with a happy ending.

Waking up in a cold sweat, Hoji finds himself laying on the cold unforgiving wooden floor of his room when he awakens with only one blanket covering his body. He sighs, trying his best to calm himself down. Looking at the light pouring through the window, he realizes that it is already mid-afternoon. 

When he gets up, Hoji grabs his blanket and places it on the bed neatly, only to realize that the blanket is covered in dust and dirt. Looking at his arms, Hoji finally notices that he is covered in dried mud. Stretching his shirt to examine the damage, he realizes that his shirt has a few tears in it between the dirt stains. Hoji sighs.

Groggily, Hoji walks over to a clothing shop. As he walks around, he would occasionally catch the other patrons looking at him with disdain, as if he didn’t belong. Panicking, Hoji hurriedly buys a beige turtleneck and some black pants, not really paying attention to his fashion choices.

After going to the bathhouse, Hoji returns to his room at the inn wearing his new clothes. He places his mud-stained clothes into his bag and looks at himself in the mirror. He examines himself for a moment, before turning away to quickly search through his bag. He pulls out two dangling crystal earrings and quickly carefully puts them on. Looking into his eyes, he sighs. He feels the knot tie in his stomach again. Those peonies weren’t for him. Why would they be?

Hoji feels his stomach turn as he walks over to the cafe house. He nervously stands outside of the cafe, more playing with his necklace and earrings than actually looking for Andrius. 

Andrius would never buy peonies for Hoji. Why would he want to? They’ve only talked a few times over the span of a few weeks. They may have already been to a few cafes, but he had never made any advancements. It wouldn’t make sense for him to bring flowers now. Hoji hangs his head low and feels his shoulders tense.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come back to Kutabe,” Hoji mumbles to himself, “Maybe it would be better to leave.”

Hoji stands there frozen, staring down at his feet. 

After a few moments, Hoji forces his shoulders to relax. There is a possibility that those peonies are for him. When Andrius said romantic endeavors, there is a possibility it was in reference to him! If that is the case, then Andrius would bring the peonies today, right? That would mean that Andrius likes him, right? That would mean they could go on dates. That would mean they could hold each other tight. That would mean they could-

"Hoji?"

Hoji jumps back when he hears Andrius’ voice, returning back to reality.

"Whoa, Hoji, are you okay? Did I scare you?" Andrius voices his concern.

Hoji’s eyes search for the peonies. Of course, they aren’t there. The peonies were never for him -- what was he thinking? "Oh, uh- I'm- I'm alright. S- Sorry, I guess- I guess I zoned out,” he says as he feels his stomach tie into a knot.

"Sorry for scaring you,” Andrius stands closer, trying to look into Hoji’s eyes, “Are- Are you sure you want to go inside? You seem a little on-edge."

"Oh, I-” Hoji takes a step back putting a distance between the two of them, “I guess being on adventures uh- does that."

Andrius frowns, "Do you want to go somewhere else instead?"

"I- Uh- Only- Only if you want to."

"Oh, uh- well, I don’t mind."

“O- Okay…” Hoji brings his hand to his upper arm, "Do- Do you want to go to the forest?"

“You’ll be more comfortable there, right?”

“Y- Yeah…”

“Let’s go then.”

“O- Okay.”

The two of them start walking towards the treeline. Hoji leads the way, but Andrius could tell that Hoji is still trembling. Without better judgement, Andrius tries to spark conversation.

"I like your shirt," Andrius says.

"Oh, thanks, I bought it- um- I bought it while I was in Tenno."

"I think it suits you quite nicely."

“Th- Thanks.”

"So- um- why- why the forest?"

"Why the forest?" Hoji echoes.

"Well, I mean, why would you rather be in the forest?” Andrius pauses for a moment, “I know you're a druid, but there must be more than that."

"Oh, I used to uh- I used to go into the forest when I was a kid. I always felt more um- more connected with the animals than the other oni,” Hoji’s pace begins to slow.

"Connected?"

"I- I don’t know how else to describe it. I just- I don’t know- I just felt more in place with the animals, like we were in the same boat, especially the hippogryph that I took care of."

“Oh, you’ve taken care of a hippogryph?”

“Y- Yeah, not for very long though. She- uh- She was nearing adulthood when we met, but she was injured. I- I didn’t know many healing spells at the time, but I tried my best.”

“Well, I hope she was able to make a full recovery.”

“Yeah, she- she did. When I left, she was taking care of a clutch of her own eggs. I wonder how she’s doing now.”

“I think she’d be doing well. You did help her recover, after all.”

“I guess you’re right,” Hoji smiles a little, “I- I should try visiting her. It has been a few years.”

“You should! I would think she misses you,” Andrius smiles and turns to look at Hoji.

Hoji laughs under his breath, “Yeah, I guess she would.”

Eventually Hoji leads the both of them to a clearing deep in the forest. Without any regard for his new clothes, Hoji immediately plops down in the dirt, legs outstretched and hands face down in the ground in front of him. 

Andrius sits more awkwardly, trying his best to not ruin his pants. He sits with his legs crossed and his spine straight.

"Sorry to be so blunt, but peonies?" Hoji bluntly asks.

"Peonies?" Andrius echoes, "Oh... those peonies... They- uh- Well, it's a long story."

"Yeah?"

"Y- Yeah… The day you came back, Jandor saw me talking to you, and he- uh- well, he forced me to go out to buy flowers the next day -- of course I forgot to bring them."

Hoji looks up to meet Andrius’ eyes, "Forgot- Forgot to bring them where?"

"I forgot-" Andrius turns away and rubs the nape of his neck, "I forgot to bring them..." 

Andrius’ heart jumps to his throat, causing him to choke up. There was no way Hoji was going to accept his feelings. How could Hoji possibly want to be with Andrius? Their lives are too different. Hoji doesn’t want to be with him. Andrius audibly sighs.

"Sorry, did- did I say something?” Hoji asks nervously.

“N- No, sorry, it’s- it’s just that...” Andrius feels his heart pounding through his chest. Andrius' tail, once before waving behind him, now is curled up the tightest it could be around his own thigh.

Hoji places his hand on top of Andrius' knee in hopes of helping him calm down, "It’s just that...?"

"It’s- It’s just that…” Andrius struggles to say, as he looks at Hoji's hand placed on his knee.

They both look up.

Hoji looks past the wooden frame of Andrius’ glasses into the yellow eyes.

Andrius’ jaw clenches as he looks back. His eyes desperately want to look away, but he can’t bring himself to do it.

"Do- Do you want to head back?" Hoji asks.

"N- No, I- I want to stay here.”

"Are you sure?"

"Y- Yeah, I'm- I’m sure,” Andrius pauses for a moment, “It’s just that... I- I need to tell you something.”

Hoji looks up at Andrius worriedly, “O- Okay.”

“I think… I think I want to-” Andrius looks away and starts mumbling, ”I think I want to be more than just friends.”

"Y- You do?"

Andrius turns back to look at Hoji, "I- I do."

"I- I-" Hoji chokes up, “I don’t know what to say.”

"Sorry, I- I made things awkward, didn’t I?" Andrius’ eyes run across the ground.

“N- No, it’s just…” Hoji feels himself tense up.

Andrius looks up at Hoji, looking into his eyes.

Hoji blushes, "Can- Can I kiss you?!"

"What?!"

Hoji tightens his grip on Andrius’ knee, "Can I kiss you?!”

Andrius blushes, “B- But I’m- I’m-”

Hoji leans into Andrius, cutting him off. Placing his lips onto Andrius’, Hoji feels how warm Andrius’ breath is on his upper lip.

Andrius places his hand on Hoji’s cheek, feeling his rough skin under his thumb.

Hoji feels the knot in his stomach rise to his throat. He pulls back. His face is now a bright red, "S- Sorry, I just- I didn't expect you to do that."

“S- Sorry,” Andrius moves his hand to his lap and looks away.

Hoji lifts his hand to touch Andrius’ chin, turning his face to look at him. He hesitates a little, before he raises his head to meet Andrius’ lips.

Their lips meet once more, this time a little more roughly. Andrius can taste Hoji's salad dressing from his last meal, and he can feel Hoji's small tusks clacking against his own fangs. Hoji’s tongue is soft and bitter tasting. His lips are slightly chapped, and Andrius cannot help noticing how warm he feels. Andrius raises his arm to clutch on the back of Hoji’s shirt. Pushing himself into Hoji, he feels Hoji’s hand comb through the back of his hair. His cold fingers push Andrius closer, making his glasses press up against the bridge of Hoji’s nose. Andrius feels something soft between his fangs, before suddenly tasting a metallic iron. 

Hoji lets out a hum of concern and very quickly breaks off. Brings his hand down to his face, he wipes off something off his mouth with his hand. As Hoji pulls his hand away, Andrius sees red blood cover his fingertips.

"Oh my gods, I didn’t mean to-" Andrius exclaims, "Are you okay?!"

Holding his hand against his lip, Hoji sounds muffled when he says, "I'm- I’m fine."

"Here, let me-" Andrius lifts his sleeve up towards Hoji's mouth.

"And ruin your nice white shirt?! No! I'll be fine!"

"I can clean my shirt!” Andrius gently pushes against Hoji’s lip with his sleeve, “S- Sorry, I forgot- I forgot how sharp my fangs were."

Hoji pushes Andrius’ arm away, “It’s- It’s okay."

Andrius looks up, his gaze wandering through Hoji’s dark hazel eyes. He wants to get lost in them, but he feels his heart feels jumping in and out of his chest. His stomach is in his throat, and his face feels as if it is on fire. He’s never felt like this with anyone else before, much less an adventurer who has traveled the world. He feels his hands start to shake and to sweat, trying his best to understand what just happened. His words shake as he speaks, "So, are we- are we boyfriends now?" 

Hoji stutters, "That- That’s why I kissed you.” 

"Oh,” Andrius looks away, “C- Cool."

Hoji nods slowly.

The two of them sit under the pale moonlight for a few silent minutes.

Hoji speaks up, "Maybe- Maybe we should start heading back."

"That’s a good idea,” Andrius responds.

Hoji quickly stands up and helps Andrius up. 

Once Andrius is on his hooves, Andrius’ tail curls tight around his thigh, its barb close to cutting into his pants. 

Hoji looks up to meet Andrius’ eyes and smiles awkwardly. He entwines his fingers with Andrius’, causing Andrius’s face to flush his face near scarlet red. Hoji laughs, “You’re blushing.”

“I- I am aware,” Andrius moves his head to look away from Hoji.

“Sorry for laughing, I- I feel a little awkward too,” Hoji blushes and looks away, “Let’s get going.”

“Y- Yeah,” Andrius blushes as he feels Hoji’s grip tighten around his hand.

The two walk through the forest. Andrius has a difficult time maintaining conversation, practically unable to get much more than a few awkward words out at a time. However, Hoji is no better, commenting on the forest trees and mushrooms just so that he can fill the silence. 

As Andrius unlocks his dorm’s door, Hoji lets go of Andrius’ hand, "I'll- I'll see you sometime later?"

“Could- Could we go get ice cream, tomorrow?" 

“Y- Yeah, maybe- maybe we should, as a real date?”

Andrius smiles softly, “As a real date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dungeon master included custom dungeons and dragons races, so if some of the races seem unfamiliar, that's why. The custom races include: oni, half-oni, (edited) fairy, inugami, karasu, kemono, kitsune, nekomata, ryujin, tanuki, tengu, and tsukomogami. I believe the only ones that are in this particular book are: half-oni, kitsune, nekomata, and tsukomogami.


	2. A Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After two weeks have passed in Kutabe, Hoji finds himself getting more comfortable with Andrius. However, the two of them are forced to keep their distance because of Andrius' studies. After his final exam, Andrius decides to go drinking with his friends as a celebration -- hilarity ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> During the time I had wrote this, I never had gotten drunk before. Funny enough, I think I portrayed it pretty well.
> 
> Content warning: NSFW (sex)

Two weeks later, Andrius sits at his desk writing notes, the afternoon sun’s light pours through his window. Books cover his bed, desk, and shelves. Ink is spilled and stains his desk, hands, and shirt. Parchment lay across his desk, his bed, and the floor surrounding Andrius’ chair.

Hearing a knock on his door, Andrius yells, “It’s unlocked!” 

Hoji opens the door to find Andrius continuing to write, “Oh sorry, I’ll come back later.”

“Wait,” Andrius finishes what he was writing with an exaggerated stamp on his parchment and sighs in relief, “Okay, break time now.”

As Andrius turns to look at him, Hoji smiles, “So, how’s studying?”

“Boring, as always,” Andrius laughs.

“I don’t know how you do it. I could barely sit down and read a book.”

“I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how I do it either,” Andrius stretches, “So, what are you doing here?”

Hoji walks closer to Andrius’ desk with a large smile on his face, “I wanted to give you these!” He pulls out a bouquet of flowers that he was hiding behind his back.

Andrius’ eyes light up, “Oh!”

"And... I didn't want to bother you the day before your exam,” Hoji meekly says.

Leaning into Hoji and giving him a peck on the cheek, Andrius softly says, "The time I spend with you is never a bother.” 

Hoji blushes, “Are- Are you confident in the test?”

"Confident enough, but I still have a few more things I need to memorize."

"I hope it isn’t too difficult."

"Thanks, but it is my final exam for this year. It covers everything I have learned this semester,” Andrius says as he places peonies down on top of his bookshelf, careful to not let the flowers touch any of the books or spilled ink.

“I see,” Hoji sounds a little disappointed, “You still have to study some more then?”

“Y- Yeah,” Andrius turns back to look at Hoji, “But, we’ll be able to talk more once my exam is over.”

“I guess- I guess you’re right,” Hoji thinks for a moment, “Do you think you can go out the day after your exam?”

“Of course,” Andrius smiles, “Do you want to go to that cafe that just opened? I heard they have cats that walk around!”

“They do?!” Hoji gasps, his eyes sparkling in excitement.

“Yeah! The cats walk around the cafe as you eat or study, and you can pet them if you want!”

“Andrius, that sounds amazing! I would love to go!” Hoji raises his arms around Andrius’ head to pull him down for a kiss.

Andrius feels his lips touch Hoji’s and starts to blush. Pulling his arm around Hoji’s shoulders, Andrius leans in, hoping the kiss would last longer than it does.

Hoji pulls away laughing, “Sorry, I got excited.”

“That’s alright,” Andrius chuckles, “But, I have to go back to work now.”

Hoji lets his arms fall to his side and exaggeratedly says, “Darn, I thought I could just stand here and make out with you for the next hour.”

“We can’t do that again. Remember how Lyrica walked in on us last time?” Andrius laughs, “Thanks for the peonies, Hoji.”

Hoji giggles, “I’m glad you like them. I’ll see you after your exam, then?”

“Yeah, noon?”

“Noon,” Hoji smiles, “See you later!”

“See you later,” Andrius says as he watches Hoji wave goodbye.

As Hoji walks out of the dorm, he hears a familiar pitter patter against the stone walkway. Hoji turns around just in time to see an eleven year old boy tackling him to the ground.

The young boy pushes Hoji to the ground in a playful manner, excitedly yelling, “Hoji! Hoji!”

“Hey Mittens!” Hoji laughs and pats him, “Did you get here alright?”

“Yeah!” Mittens sits up, with his cat ears excitedly perked up, “You won’t believe what happened on our way over here!”

Hoji looks up at Mittens and smiles, “I won’t?”

“We found this rock! I know you like rocks!” Mittens pulls out a shiny yellow pebble from his bag, “Look! Isn’t it pretty?!”

Hoji laughs, “Can you let me get up first?”

“Oh, sorry,” Mittens takes his weight off of Hoji, “But! Isn’t the rock pretty?!”

Hoji gently holds the yellow pebble in his hands, “Oh wow, you found a piece of pyrite.”

“Pyrite?” Mittens’ eyes grow wide, “Is it valuable?!”

Hoji laughs, “No, but it’s very nice to look at, isn’t it?”

Mittens’ shoulder droop, “You mean it’s just pretty?”

“Yeah, but I would keep it if I were you,” Hoji turns it over in his hand, “Even if it’s not valuable, doesn’t mean that it’s not worth to admire its beauty.”

Mittens takes back the pyrite and holds it gently in his hands.

Hoji looks down at the pyrite and smiles, before he hears an excited tip tap from across the stone walkway.

Looking up, Hoji sees a woman running over towards him. Before he knows it, she wraps her arms around him for a hug. With a surprised jolt he yells, “Honoka?!”

She quickly breaks away and grabs onto Hoji’s shoulders. Her large cat ears twitch above her dark long hair as she speaks, “Hoji! It’s so good to see you again!”

Hoji smiles, “It’s good to see you too!”

Kaguya, with her large cat ears relaxed, slowly walks up to the three of them. Sumi, with a curiously glint in his eye, calmly walks behind. Both of them look menacing with the amount of armor they have on, but to Hoji, this is normal looks for the leader and the barbarian of his adventuring party.

“What’s the occasion?” Hoji looks up at Kaguya.

“Oh, we’re here to see how you’re doing. We wanted to check up before we started this particular quest,” Kaguya answers, “We’ll only be here for a couple of days before heading back to Nekojin.”

“Are- Are you here to take me with you?” Hoji says, trying to force his voice to stay neutral.

“Oh, no, if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to come, but as soon as we come back from Nekojin, we’re going to need our healer.”

Hoji sounds a little disappointed, “I see.”

Honoka perks up, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you excited to go back to adventuring?”

“I- I am, but well, I- I guess I wish I could stay longer.”

“We aren’t leaving right away,” Kaguya says, “We can enjoy ourselves for a while before getting back to business.”

“Of- Of course,” Hoji looks up, “I’m free right now, do you guys want to eat lunch together? It has been a few weeks since we’ve seen each other.”

“That is a great idea!” Honoka adds, “I can tell you all about what happened in Tenno a few days ago!”

The five of them start walking to the tavern. After a few minutes of chatting and catching up about their experiences in Tenno, the conversation leads to Honoka asking, "So what have you been doing for the past three weeks?"

"Oh, you know, Hoji things," Hoji chuckles, "I haven't been doing much, mostly- uh- hanging out in the forest."

"Oh? What do you do out there?" Mittens asks curiously.

"I’ve been taking care of the deer herd and gryphon out there. I think the gryphon finally doesn’t feel nervous with my presence, which is pretty exciting!”

"Oh wow!" Honoka pipes up, "That reminds me of a book that I'm reading, where a girl gets raised by gryphons."

Hoji chuckles, "I guess it's kinda like that."

The group chatters a little longer, before receiving their food and drinks. The party is nearly silent, not speaking until Hoji is halfway through eating his soup.

Sumi turns to Hoji, "So, Hoji, I was wondering about a certain someone.”

Hoji gives him a confused look.

“How’s Andrius doing?” Sumi gives Hoji a sly look.

"What?" Hoji responds with a pale blush in his face.

Honoka, realizing what was happening, turns to look at Hoji, "Yeah, how is Andrius?"

Hoji's face turns red, "He's- He's good."

Sumi raises an eyebrow, "Good?"

"Yeah, g- good," Hoji responds while feeling a lump form in his throat. He takes another sip of his soup.

Sumi raises an eyebrow, "Exactly how good is he?"

Hoji turns a bright red, "R- Really good."

Satisfied with the answer, Sumi pulls out his sketchbook to continue sketching the candle at the middle of the table.

Hoji lets out a sigh of relief, before noticing Honoka’s eyes light up.

Honoka gasps, "So, you two are dating?!"

"Y- Yeah," Hoji crosses his arms and tries to avoid eye contact.

“For how long?!”

"Three- Three weeks,” Hoji mumbles.

“Good for you!” Honoka grabs onto Hoji’s shoulder and shakes him, “So… When can we meet him?!”

“I don’t know, probably after his exams,” Hoji looks around nervously.

Honoka looks Hoji up and down, “Why do you look so meek about talking about him? He’s your boyfriend!” She joyfully punches his shoulder, “You should proudly talk about him!”

Hoji taps his foot, “Um- It’s… I don’t know. It’s just that we haven’t done anything… serious… yet.”

“Serious?”

Hoji clenches his jaw, “S- Serious.” Looking down at the table, he says in a quiet voice, “I can explain it in your journal. I’m… I’m not going to say it out loud for… for Mittens’ sake.”

Honoka gives Hoji a confused look before pulling out her journal and a pencil, “Um, okay?”

Hoji quickly writes down what he wants to say, trying his best to keep the pencil in his sweaty hand.

Reading what Hoji wrote down, Honoka gasps, “You mean-”

Hoji blushes, as he grabs his upper arm, “Y- Yeah.”

"You said you guys have been together for what? Three weeks?! What's been stopping you two?!”

"His studying, mostly. I don't want to distract him. He's already got enough on his plate besides worrying about what I want, r- right now at least."

A few awkward moments pass. 

"So how long are you all staying here?" Hoji asks to get out of the Andrius conversation.

“No, we’re talking about this, Hoji. You are not getting Andrius out of this conversation,” Honoka stings, “When can we see him?!”

“I don’t know! His exams are in two days!” Hoji raises his arms defensively, “I’m not going to be able to see him until the day after his exams either.”

Honoka huffs, “Alright, we’ll see him then!”

"But we’re going to have to leave shortly after,” Kaguya buds in, “We all agreed to go to Nekojin to see how the research is going." 

"Yes,” Sumi sighs, “The research is taking a lot longer than I thought it would take.”

"But, at least we'll know the secret to catnip!" Mittens exclaims.

Hoji bewilderedly asks, "Is that really what the research is about?"

The rest of the party nods.

"It's for my grandma!" Mittens adds.

Trying to get to the bottom of this, Hoji and the party chatter for hours until the sun sets.

Outside the academy, Andrius walks through the exam room doors and stretches with his hands above his head and letting all of his pent up energy out in a large sigh. Finally finished with his exams, he is finally able to relax.

A young woman quickly spots Andrius out of the crowd. Walking over to him, she shouts a friendly, “Andry!”

Andrius looks around to see the woman and smiles, “Oh, Lyrica, hello!”

Lyrica’s braided hair lightly bounces as she walks towards him. Looking up at him, her thick glasses glint into Andrius’ eyes, “Glad to see you out!”

“Yeah, me too. Five hours is quite a long time.”

“Ouch, that’s why I’m in the combat unit.”

“Oh, how were those tests? I never asked.”

“You know,” Lyrica gestures an explosion, “Boom, and then dry heaving.”

Andrius laughs, “Sounds about right, you look like you recovered fine though.”

“It has been a few days since my exams, but how are you feeling about your tests?”

“Quite confident, actually. I felt as if I knew every question on the test.”

“That’s Andry, on his way to becoming the next royal researcher!”

“Oh, stop,” Andrius laughs, “that most certainly is not a guarantee.”

The two of them chatter for a few minutes, before they hear a loud slamming of the exam room’s doors.

Jandor slumps out of the heavy doors, looking like the weight of the world has just dropped onto his shoulders.

Perking up, Andrius turns to look at Jandor.

With Andrius behind her, she walks over to Jandor, “So, Jandor, how bad did you do this time?”

Jandor looks up. His face is in a scowl, “Hey, don’t say that! I’ve only failed one test this semester!”

“Yeah, the midterm.”

Jandor groans, “At least I don’t pass out every time I use a spell.”

“Well, I can actually cast spells. That’s a lot more than I can say for you.”

“I can cast spells!”

“Yeah, if you put all of your effort into it, you could probably cast two cantrips before next semester starts.”

Andrius stands between the two of them, “Guys, maybe not in front of the exam room.”

Lyrica looks up at Andrius, “Sorry, Andry.”

Jandor huffs, “Fine.”

Trying to bring positive energy into the conversation, Andrius asks, “Now that the exams are over, what do you guys want to do?”

Lyrica thinks for a moment, “How about we go to the tavern?”

“The tavern?” Andrius raises an eyebrow, “Lyrie, you are the last person I’d expect who would want to drink.”

Lyrica shrugs, “The semester is over. Even if we’re all staying in town, we should at least have a night off from sorting books.”

Jandor nods, “I wouldn’t mind getting my mind off of things.”

Andrius pulls his hand up to rub the back of his neck. Jandor and Lyrica turn to look at him. He looks at both of them worried, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Jandor gives Andrius a sly look, “You’ve never had a drink before have you?”

“What are you saying?! I’ve had- I’ve had a- a uh-” Andrius’ words become defeated mumbling.

Lyrica wraps her arm around Andrius’ shoulder, despite him being taller than her, “Andry, it’ll be better if your first drink is with friends! Doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me.”

“What- What if I say something embarrassing?” Andrius says worriedly.

“Don’t worry! We should all know each other all really well by now, right? There’s nothing that you can say that will hurt our feelings.”

“I- I guess you’re right.”

“Of course she’s right!” Jandor pats Andrius’ back, “Let’s enjoy ourselves!”

The lively hustle and bustle of the tavern’s patrons makes Andrius even more nervous. Speaking up of his concerns, Andrius asks, “Are- Are you guys sure I’ll be fine?”

“Of course!” Lyrica gives him a pat on the back, “However, I will offer you a warning before we really get into it. Yare going to get drunk fast. That’s what happens when you drink for the first time. Just drink lots of water, okay?”

“O- Okay.”

Jandor calls over the barmaid and orders a round of ale.

When the three tankards arrive at the table, Andrius stares down into his cup of ale. The ale bubbles and fizzes.

Lyrica holds her tankard up, “To exams being over!”

“To exams being over!” Jandor echoes and raises his ale, before nudging Andrius, “Put your tankard up.”

Andrius holds his ale up. He has a bad feeling about this.

Lyrica and Jandor are quick to chug their tankards of ale.

Andrius is a little more cautious. He takes only a small sip of the ale and feels his throat burn from the alcohol. Putting his tankard down, he shakes his head in pain.

Lyrica finishes her tankard with a satisfying sigh.

Hours pass with drinking games, laughter, and bad decisions. Andrius is the first to get drunk after three ales. Jandor starts slurring his words after five, and Lyrica starts laughing at nothing after seven ales.

Hoji and the rest of the adventuring party walk into the warm tavern lights. By the time they arrive, Andrius, Jandor, and Lyrica are all nearing black-out drunk. Hoji looks over to Andrius’ table in worry.

"Hey," Jandor hiccups and drunkenly points towards Hoji, "Is- Is that your boyfriend?"

Andrius turns to look at Hoji. He waves a large swinging wave towards him, and Hoji gives a concerned look.

"Oh gods," Hoji mumbles.

Kaguya pats Hoji's shoulder, "Good luck."

The rest of the party heads up to their rooms, as Hoji walks over to the table of three drunk students. Trying to see who looks the worse, he clenches his jaw as he finds that Andrius is swaying, despite him sitting with two feet planted on the floor.

"Hey- Hey, Hoji," Andrius stands up and stumbles over to Hoji. "How about," he swings his arm over Hoji's shoulder. "About we," Andrius’ legs give out a little, causing him to fall down, but Hoji manages to keep him standing by pushing his shoulder up, "We get outta here.”

"Yeah, I'm going to bring you to your dorm,” Hoji says as he lets Andrius lean on him.

"Score!" Andrius yells triumphantly to his friends, which causes the two of them to raise their tankards and a chug of whatever was left in them.

Hoji sighs, as he takes Andrius' tankard away and places it down on the table, "Come on, we're going." 

Andrius chuckles as he leans on Hoji's shoulder. 

Entering Andrius' dorm, Hoji feels claustrophobic. Books lay all over the room in a messy and unorganized manner. Parchment and inkwells cover every surface they could be on, excluding only the bed. He feels as if he steps anywhere in the room, he will cause inkwells to spill and books to be ruined.

Leaning on Hoji’s shoulder, Andrius slurs, "Hoji, you’re- you’re cute.” Suddenly feeling something rise in his throat, he leans forward and grabs his mouth, forcing himself to swallow.

"Thanks Andrius,” Hoji sighs, “Now come on, let’s get you into bed.”

Andrius suddenly feels sober enough to stand on his own. Getting off of Hoji's shoulder, Andrius stands up straight.

Hoji lets Andrius off his shoulder, "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I feel sober enough,” Andrius responds, feeling his legs tense up.

"I’m glad,” Hoji says as he climbs onto Andrius' bed.

Andrius looks around, "Don't you sleep at the inn?"

Hoji sits up on the bed. "Not tonight," he says before grabbing onto the collar of Andrius’ shirt.

“Hoji? What- What do you mean?” Andrius gives a concerned look.

Smiling, Hoji pulls Andrius closer to him, “We haven’t done it yet, have we?”

“D- Done what?”

Hoji leans to whisper into Andrius’ ear, “We haven’t slept together yet.”

Andrius blushes, “Wh- What?”

Hoji brings his face back in front of Andrius and giggles, “You’re getting flustered.” Pulling Andrius towards him, Hoji leans in.

Andrius is hesitant to follow through, but before he can do anything, he feels Hoji’s lips meet his.

Hoji's lips feel softer than usual. His breath feels hotter than usual. His tusks feel sharper than usual. As Hoji pulls him in closer, Andrius feels Hoji’s warm tongue enter his mouth. Andrius can no longer focus on anything else but how sweet Hoji tastes.

Tightening his grip on Andrius’ collar, Hoji pulls him closer to the bed, forcing his knee to press down onto the soft mattress.

Hoji holds the back of Andrius' head with his arm. His other hand is gently placed onto Andrius' shoulder. He feels Andrius twitch a little before moving his hand down to Andrius’ neck. Feeling Andrius’ warm skin, Hoji feels his way to Andrius’ shirt collar. He pops open the top button.

Unbuttoning one button at a time, Hoji's hand continues downward, until Andrius’ chest and abdomen are exposed. Moving his hand to reach Andrius’ back, Hoji softly presses his fingers down on Andrius’ spine.

Andrius can feel his chest tighten and his heartbeat fasten. Leaning into Hoji more, he wraps his arms around Hoji’s torso, pulling him close.

Andrius leans into Hoji. Bringing him down, Andrius gently lays Hoji on the bed. Supporting himself only by his elbows and his knee on the bed, Andrius lets his chest and abdomen press up against Hoji. He can feel Hoji’s arms wrap around his chest, as if he is trying to pull Andrius closer still.

Their lips break apart for a moment. Hoji’s breaths are heavy and fleeting. He looks up at Andrius for a moment, “You- You look really hot without that shirt.”

"Yeah?" Andrius smirks before pushing his knee against Hoji’s crotch. 

Hoji lets out a small squeak and tightens his legs.

Andrius leans down into Hoji, kissing him again. His soft lips taste sweet -- almost like strawberries. 

Hoji moves his hand to touch Andrius’ bare chest. He feels Andrius’ heart thud against his ribcage. Hoji moves his hand downwards, feeling Andrius’ abs twitch and tighten.

Andrius pulls away from Hoji’s face for a moment. His breaths are full and heavy. His face red hot, he could not focus on much else besides Hoji’s soft hand gliding down his torso.

Hoji grabs Andrius’ crotch and squeezes tight. He feels Andrius’ penis, despite being covered by the leather of his pants. It is hard and feels as though it is going to rip Andrius’ pants at the seams if he doesn’t let it out soon.

Andrius moans softly through closed lips.

Hoji smirks, “You’re hard.”

"I wonder who's fault that is," Andrius says, before pushing his knee harder into Hoji’s crotch.

Hoji grunts as his thighs tighten around Andrius’ knee.

Andrius huffs a deep breath, before sitting up for a moment to undo his belt and pants buttons.

Finally being able to reach in, Hoji rubs his hand against the bottom of Andrius’ abdomen until he reaches his dick inside. Hoji feels over the shaft of Andius’ penis, before releasing it into the warm air. Hoji begins stroking. Sitting up, he places his mouth on Andrius' abdomen. Wrapping his other arm around Andrius’ waist, Hoji kisses Andrius. Sucking on Andrius’ skin, he tightens his arm around him. Still stroking, Hoji releases Andrius’ skin from between his lips, before his head glides downwards until it reaches Andrius' crotch. Hoji looks up at Andrius, and he slides his tongue across the side of his shaft. 

Andrius lets out a small trembling moan and feels his abdomen tighten, as he locks eyes with Hoji.

Hoji puts his hand at the base of Andrius' penis and aligns it with his mouth. Hoji's tongue is the first thing to touch the tip. His soft lips pressed themselves down, covering the entire head.

Andrius puts his hand behind Hoji’s head and grabs onto Hoji’s hair.

Hoji’s lips feel Andrius' shaft slide through his mouth. Trying to fit as much as he can, Hoji only reaches half way down the shaft before feeling the tip hit the back of his throat.

Andrius thrusts his hips into Hoji, holding Hoji’s head tight.

Hoji pulls away and coughs. His eyes water a little as he looks up at Andrius, "You’re- You’re too big.”

Andrius doesn't respond, watching as Hoji's chest rises and falls with every large breath he takes. While stroking himself, Andrius leans back down to kiss Hoji. .

Hoji swings his arm around Andrius' neck to bring him down to meet his face. Their lips meet once more, and Andrius could taste his own precum. It tastes salty, but Hoji's tongue tastes so sweet that he doesn’t care. Hoji slowly falls back, pulling down Andrius with him, until they feel each other's chests through Hoji's shirt.

By the time Hoji is completely on his back, his legs are open, allowing Andrius' dick to graze against Hoji's crotch, sending a tingle up Hoji’s spine. Through the kissing, Hoji's moans sound more like a joyful hum. Reaching with one hand down, Hoji unbuttons the top button of his pants, allowing his hand to slip through the waistband. 

Hoji's hand lowers until it finds his pussy. Rubbing his clit, Hoji feels hyper aware of Andrius' dick -- hard and pushing down on the back of Hoji’s hand. 

Andrius breaks off from kissing, and the both of them are flushed red and taking big gulps of each other’s air. "I think I can satisfy you more than your hand," Andrius says with a smirk.

Hoji pulls Andrius down with his other arm as he quickly unbuttons the rest of his pants. Their lips meet again, but Andrius quickly breaks off in order to rise up enough to have a full view of Hoji’s crotch.

Andrius grabs the waist of Hoji's pants and slowly pulls down, revealing Hoji's pussy. Andrius grabs the back of Hoji’s thigh and pulls it through one of the pant legs, before placing his chest back on top of Hoji's. 

With his pants gone, Hoji feels Andrius' shaft rub against his clit, causing him to moan softly. 

Andrius holds his penis at the base. Holding Hoji’s back, Andrius feels Hoji's spine arch as he enters, slowly pushing his tip into Hoji's tight pussy.

Thrusting his hips, Andrius slowly pushes deeper into Hoji’s pussy. Feeling the warm and wet walls surround his tip and shaft, Andrius presses his abdomen against Hoji’s.

Andrius wakes up.


	3. Missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After waking up with a throbbing headache, Andrius finds himself in a difficult situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: NSFW (sex)

Sitting up, Andrius feels his head throb in pain. Drool drops from his mouth to his collar. Quick to wipe it off, he looks down. His shirt is still on. All the buttons are still buttoned. Stretching it just to be sure that it’s real, he sighs and grabs his forehead. He mumbles to himself, “Wh- What happened?” 

Looking around his blurry room, he notices that his dorm room is less messy than what he remembers. Most of the parchment that covered his floor is now in a stacked pile on his desk. Almost all of the inkwells that were open yesterday are closed and placed neatly on his shelf. Some of his books are sorted on the bookshelves, although there are still quite a lot of them that are open and lay scattered across his desk. 

Andrius’ head throbs in pain again. Grunting, he tries to remember if he cleaned up or not. Did Hoji clean up? Why would Hoji want to clean up? Was he even here last night?

He removes the blankets that covered him. It is only when he sees the bulge in his pants does Andrius realize that he is erect, his penis is pressed between the leather of his pants and his hip. He sighs audibly.

Almost in response, something shifts next to Andrius' bed. The floor creaks under the newly distributed weight.

Andrius’ shoulders tense up. He cautiously starts to lean over his bed to look at the floor beside it. Did an animal come into his room and make its home in here?! What if it’s a raccoon?! Raccoons have big scary claws! Andrius doesn’t want to get scratched! What if it attacks him?!

Finally being able to see over the bed, he looks down at his floor, his hands clutching his blankets.

Thankfully, it’s just Hoji sleeping next to him.

Andrius sighs in relief, glad th-

Wait, Hoji is sleeping next to him?!

Andrius feels his penis twitch in his pants.

Hoji turns over in his sleep.

Shocked, Andrius quickly pulls the blankets back over his crotch. He worriedly watches Hoji’s movements, waiting for him to wake up.

After a few moments of anxious silence, he leans forward, closing his eyes and putting his face in his hands. This is embarrassing. He just had a dream about having sex with Hoji while he was sleeping next to him. Andrius grabs onto his horns, trying his best to calm himself down.

Hoji's eyes flutter open at the sound of Andrius' angry sighs. Under a single blanket, he yawns loudly.

Andrius' eyes snap open, and he quickly sits up straight. There's absolutely nothing wrong, just being Andrius.

Hoji sits up and stretches, his head facing the door. He raises his hands above his head and stretches his arms. His shirt loosely falls down his chest. He sleepily turns his head to look towards Andrius, "Good morning."

"It’s- It's the afternoon," Andrius says, trying to avoid eye contact by looking through the window.

Hoji turns to look at the window, "Oh, I guess it is." He slowly climbs out from under the blanket, yawning again.

"Did we- um-” Andrius shakes his head, “What happened last night?”

Hoji sits in Andrius' desk chair, his pants gripping his hips. His eyes are still nearly closed as he says, "Well, you said some very interesting things at the tavern, but once we got to your dorm, you passed out while I was still holding you up."

"Oh..." Andrius groggily responds, grabbing his forehead in pain again.

"Yeah… Um- I stayed here in case you needed anything, but I guess I- uh-” Hoji looks down towards the blanket on the floor, “I guess I fell asleep."

"So we didn't-" Andrius cuts himself off, he already knows the answer. There was no point in asking.

Hoji looks up, "So we didn't what?"

Andrius' face turns a pale red as he says, "N- Nothing. Forget I said anything."

Hoji looks at Andrius confused, but doesn’t want to push it, "Are you okay? You um- You drank a lot last night."

“N- No, my- my head hurts,” Andrius says looking down at the blankets in front of him.

"Oh, I'll go get you some tea, okay?"

"That- That sounds good,” Andrius rubs the nape of his neck.

"I’ll be right back," Hoji says as he gets up and walks out of the dorm room, leaving Andrius alone.

Andrius feels his dick start throbbing. He is not sure if the very normal conversation he just had with Hoji turned him on more or not, but he worries that if he doesn't deal with his erection now, he might not be able to later. 

Moving his hand under the blanket, he unbuttons his pants enough for his penis to escape it. He squeezes the bell end of his cock and feels how hard it really is. Fully erect, he remembers his dream from last night, still fresh in his mind and the driving force keeping him up now.

Andrius moves himself to be more comfortable. Turning towards his desk, his hooves clack on the wooden floor. Taking a deep breath, he rubs from his shaft to the tip of his penis. Bringing his hand up to his mouth, he bites down on it hard. He feels his flesh tingle in pain as his fangs dig deep. 

Andrius looks at the peonies on his desk for a moment.

Stroking his shaft, Andrius bites down harder. He thinks of the sweet taste of Hoji's lips and the feeling of his soft skin against his chest. 

Andrius’ abdomen tightens as he continues to stroke faster. His thighs try to tighten themselves together, and he leans forward with his elbow on his knee. His eyes start to blink close as his strokes get faster, trying his best to keep focus on what Hoji would taste like.

Making muffled moans into his hand, Andrius strokes faster. Forcing his focus, he imagines what it would be like inside of Hoji: putting his penis as deep as it could go, feeling the warm and wet insides of Hoji's pussy, pressing his abdomen against Hoji’s, hearing Hoji’s moans in his ear, feeling the arch of Hoji’s spine, tasting Hoji’s sweet skin.

Andrius’ eyes roll back, and he makes a muffled moan. He bites down on his hand harder than before, nearly piercing the skin. Feeling his cum burst outward, he releases his hand from between his fangs. Breathing heavy, he takes big deep gulps of air with every breath.

Opening his eyes, he looks towards his desk in front of him. Despite his blurry vision, he can see the parchment and books covered in white, but he can’t bring himself to focus on that right now. His eyes slowly close as he falls back into his bed.

Thirty minutes pass, Andrius groggily sits up, his headache subsiding a little bit. He looks around his dorm for a moment to orient himself. Looking back at his desk, Andrius realizes that his cum stained some of the books that lay open on his desk. He clenches his teeth, worried if they are library books. He sighs, realizing that he’s going to have to clean up. He buttons up back on his pants, and he stands up to grab some cleaning rags.

After he cleans off as much moisture off of the pages he could see, he finds his metal glasses and puts them on. As he continues to clean his desk, one of his note-taking journals falls onto the floor. Looking down, his glasses slide down his nose. Pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, he notices that his pants have a white stain. 

His shoulders tense, glad that Hoji hasn’t returned yet. Opening up his closet doors, Andrius goes through the ordeal of finding good pants for the second day in a row. After a couple of minutes, Andrius changes into a new pair of pants, and he haphazardly throws his old pants onto his bed.

Putting on a new pair of pants, he sighs.

He could have said something about his dream earlier -- or boner for that matter. Hoji would accept his sexual feelings, right? It has been three weeks, and it is not unnatural to have sexual feelings, especially now. However, Andrius wonders: would Hoji be okay with it? They haven’t talked about sex yet. Maybe they should have talked about this earlier this week. If they did, Andrius wouldn’t feel so awkward about all this now, but remembering what happened last Saturday, maybe now is a better time than earlier.

Andrius sighs. Gods, last Saturday.

Last Saturday was not unusual per say, but whenever Andrius thinks about how Hoji left him that night, his stomach feels like it turns itself inside-out.

They had just left from the restaurant Hoji suggested. Hoji walked Andrius back to his dorm, as he usually does, and they chatted, holding hands and laughing at each other’s terrible jokes. When they arrived back at his dorm, Andrius innocently asked, “Do you want to come inside?”

Hoji’s face flushed red. His happy relaxed state was quickly replaced with a face that looked as though he had a hundred degree fever. He nervously said, “S- Sure.” 

His legs started to tremble as he stepped into the dark room.

As Andrius lit the candles, he could see Hoji’s nervous tremors through his peripheral vision. Wondering what was wrong, Andrius sat Hoji down on the bed. Sitting next to him, Andrius patted his back, “Everything okay?”

“Y- Yeah,” Hoji fidgeted with his necklace, before he took a deep breath.

Andrius leaned over to grab his note journal on his desk, hoping that some of his doodles would cure some of Hoji’s anxiety.

Once Andrius sat back on the bed, Hoji looked up into his eyes.

Andrius looked back and smiled, trying his best to help Hoji to feel more comfortable.

Hoji’s shoulders tense up, before he quickly brought both of his hands to either side of Andrius’ face. Pulling Andrius’ face towards him, he leaned upwards and placed his lips on Andrius’.

Andrius’ eyes snapped open, and he looked at Hoji’s closed eyes, worriedly not knowing what was going on.

Hoji pulled away when Andrius didn’t return the kiss.

Andrius' face flushed red, “Why did you-”

Hoji’s eyes darted around until they landed on Andrius, “Oh gods, that’s not the reason why you invited me inside, huh?”

“Wh-”

“I’ll just go. I’m- I’m so sorry,” Hoji said and stood up, “I’ll- I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Andrius tried to say something, but Hoji had already stepped out the door.

Andrius sighs as he recollects that night, placing down a cleaning rag. He plants his palms onto his cleaned desk, leaning most of his weight onto it. Hoji kissed him so passionately, but Andrius didn’t return it. Thinking hard of why Hoji would do that in the first place, Andrius clenches his teeth. 

Was Hoji expecting to have sex with him that day?

Looking up at his bookshelf, he feels his stomach drop. Great. Another thing to add to times-Andrius-didn’t-pick-up-on-Hoji’s-advancements list. This is the seventh addition to that list so far. Rubbing his hand down his face, he sighs.

Gods, is it possible he didn’t pick up on Hoji’s advancements last night? Trying to remember last night, his memories feel hazy. Did he really ask Hoji to come back to his dorm with him?

“Was I expecting to have sex with him last night?” Andrius mumbles to himself. 

Remembering his dream, he puts his face in his hands. 

He definitely was expecting sex last night. 

A knock comes from the door. Looking up at his door, Andrius feels his shoulders tense. "It's Hoji!" Hoji chuckles through the door.

Taking his hands away from his face, Andrius huffs a deep breath. “He’s your boyfriend, Andrius. You can ask him about last Saturday. You can ask him about last night,” he mumbles to himself, “He’ll answer.”

Andrius walks over and opens the door to be greeted by Hoji's large joyful smile on it that cures all the anxiety that Andrius felt, but as he opens the door more, Jandor glares holes into the side of Andrius’ face. Looking down at Jandor, Andrius feels even more nervous than before he opened the door. He won’t be able to talk to Hoji about anything with Jandor here. Plus, Jandor looks pissed. His face scowls as if Andrius threw out a Lyrica-level insult at him as he opened the door. Not sure what is wrong, Andrius nervously rubs the nape of his neck, and he greets them both, “H- Hey.”

Hoji joyfully says, "I met up with Jandor! We were just exchanging hangover remedies!"

Jandor continues to glare daggers.

Andrius looks away, trying his best to focus on Hoji.

After a few moments of tense silence, Hoji's smile slowly fades. Looking over Andrius' shoulder, he catches a glimpse of Andrius’ cleared desk, his face turning into a shocked horror.

Andrius gives Hoji a worried look, trying to ensure he’s okay.

"Yes, we were,” Jandor says with a sting in his voice, “And, Hoji told me you had a bad headache.”

"Yeah, it- it was bad,” Andrius says, despite still looking at Hoji, “I feel a little better... n- now.”

"Oh, w- well I brought some warm tea," Hoji holds up the tray with a teapot and cups in his hands, "Uh- Can we-"

Jandor cuts Hoji off by waltzing into Andrius' room, pushing Andrius out of the way. 

Andrius sighs and begins walking behind Jandor as he walks through the space. 

Hoji awkwardly enters the room, before turning towards the table. He clumsily places the tray and cups onto the surface with a clack, while looking over his shoulder towards Jandor and Andrius.

Jandor inspects the oddly clean desk. "You started cleaning?” he says while observing the ink that still stained Andrius’ bookshelves.

"Yeah, I started only a few minutes before you both came in," Andrius states, trying to pull Jandor away from the shelves.

Jandor continues to investigate the blankets on the floor, the haphazardly thrown pants on the bed, and the cleaning rags on the desk. 

Andrius turns back to Hoji, who looked more nervous than usual. "Everything alright?" Andrius asks as Hoji carefully watches Jandor's movements.

"Y- Yeah," Hoji sits down in the chair next to the table.

Andrius, pulling the chair from his desk over to Hoji, sits down next to him. 

Hoji pours himself and Andrius a cup of ginger tea, and they both sit there silent for a moment, while Hoji looks over Andrius' shoulder to check on Jandor.

Andrius takes a sip of the warm bitter tasting tea, "Hoji?"

"Y- Yeah?” Hoji awkwardly responds, still trying to track Jandor’s movements.

Andrius looks up at Hoji, "Is- Is everything okay?"

"N- No…” Hoji says softly, only enough for Andrius to hear.

Andrius leans close to whisper back, “What happened?”

“I-” Hoji looks over to Jandor and back to Andrius, “I- I lost my earrings.”

"Oh no, where- where did you last have them?"

"In here, I- I think, but I don't know… You were kind of grabby last night,” Hoji says as his eyes are still fixated on Jandor.

Andrius turns to look behind him at Jandor and back to Hoji, "Why aren't you searching for it with Jandor, then?"

"He's not looking for my earrings, I have no idea what he's doing, b- but I- I- I- I-" Hoji stops himself by sighing quietly and looking down.

"Hey, it's alright," Andrius leans to rub Hoji's back, "We'll find them, okay?"

“Okay…”

“I’ll ask Jandor to help,” Andrius stands up.

“Wait,” Hoji looks around nervously, “Can you not tell Jandor?”

“Um… why? Wouldn’t it be better if he helped?”

“I- I just don’t want him to um… to know that I wear earrings?”

That poor excuse is believable enough for Andrius. Standing up, he walks over to Jandor to talk to him.

Hoji sits there quietly, trying to get his head around how he’s going to keep this lie up. He doesn’t want Jandor to know about his journal, but he knows that Jandor was listening in on his conversation with Andrius. He sighs, looking down into his tea. He doesn’t enjoy lying, especially to Andrius. Andrius will believe him no matter what, and as much as Hoji appreciates that, he is taking advantage of it right now. Looking up towards Jandor and Andrius, he feels a tinge of guilt.

Jandor stomps, “If you aren’t going to tell me, then fine. But, you better tell Lyrica, alright?!”

“Alright?” Andrius responds, trying to grasp on what Jandor is even talking about.

Jandor leaves, stomping hard onto the wooden flooring and slamming the door behind him.

Hoji looks up at Andrius confused.

Andrius shrugs, “I don’t know what happened either.”

Hoji sighs before quickly standing up. He walks to the location where Jandor was investigating and leans down in search of something. 

Andrius leans down next to him, trying to see if he could help. Not sure what he is exactly looking for, he tries his best to remember what Hoji’s earrings from last night looked like. All he remembers is two rectangle-shapes of white and purple, but he doesn’t see anything like that on the floor.

After a few minutes of searching, Hoji stands up, "I- I might have left my earrings in my inn room, we should- uh- we should head there.”

"Sounds good," Andrius says, before standing up and following Hoji out of the dorm.

Stepping inside the inn room, Hoji immediately starts destroying the bed, throwing over pillows, blankets, and furs, making a mess out of his neatly cleaned room.

Andrius begins searching by looking at the nightstand. He is more cautious than Hoji, not wanting to touch anything. This is Hoji’s stuff, and it looks all so neatly organized. He would feel bad if he shifts anything around.

The nightstand looks as though it was cleaned yesterday. It has Hoji's testosterone, neatly packaged in a small case, a small pocket watch that chimes as the hour hits, and a barely melted candlestick. No white and purple rectangle earrings here. As Andrius walks over to the table, he notices a closed inkwell, several maps neatly stacked on the table, and an unlit candle that needs to be replaced soon. No earrings here either. 

Hoji, finished destroying the bed, quickly places all of the sheets, blankets, and pillows on top of the bed without a second thought to how it looks. He soon crouches down to search underneath the bed's wooden frame and pulls out a variety of parchment and extra inkwells from underneath the mattress.

Andrius awkwardly walks over to the closet, where the door has already been opened. Andrius does not want to go through Hoji's things as much as Hoji is asking for, so he meekly asks, "Hoji, is it okay if I check your- uh- your closet drawers?"

Hoji, his entire torso underneath the wooden frame of the bed, responds, "Please."

Andrius slowly opens the top drawer of the closet, finding just a variety of Hoji's shirts neatly folded. Oh, this isn't too bad. After closing the top drawer, Andrius quickly moves to the middle drawer. A variety of pants and belts sat there peacefully, and there are no earrings that Andrius can see. As he opens the bottom drawer, rare gems glitter into Andrius’ eyes. 

A variety of quartz and onyx sit at the front of the drawer, but past that Andrius cannot recognize any of the other gems. Although most of them are uncut, a relatively large red crystal catches Andrius' eye. Based on the jewelry Andrius has seen, he wouldn't be surprised if that crystal is to be cut for a ring. 

Hoji jumps out from under the bed and starts rummaging through his bed stand's drawer. Throwing things behind him, he frantically continues to search.

Andrius finally sees Hoji's earrings at the back of the bottom drawer. The two white and purple onyx rectangular earrings glitter nicely in the warm light of the evening sun. 

"Hoji! I found them!" Andrius yells in glee.

Hoji stops rummaging through his bed stand and worriedly walks over to Andrius, who had a bright smile on his face. With his voice still shaking while accepting the earrings, Hoji says, "Th- Thanks." 

Hoji still looks worried, unable to resist from his eyes darting around the room, still in search of something.

Andrius frowns, "Hoji?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"N- No. There's- I mean, I'm alright," Hoji says as his eyes finally settle to the floor.

"Are you-"

Hoji cuts him off, "Andrius, sorry for asking, but could- could you leave? I- I just need- I just need some space just- just for a little bit."

"I-" Andrius pausing for a moment trying to formulate his own words, "Could you tell me what's bothering you?"

"It’s- It's stupid."

"That's okay,” Andrius says in a kind voice.

Hoji’s shoulders tense as he grabs his upper arm, "I- I lied -- about the earrings. It’s my journal- My journal is what is gone. S- Sorry. I- I didn’t want Jandor to- to know about it.”

“Oh, I understand. He can be a little nosy," Andrius attempts to reassure Hoji, “What does it look like? Maybe I saw it without realizing?”

"It's- It's a yellow dyed leather-bound journal. I- I don't know- I don't know where it could be."

"I didn't see anything like that, sorry,” Andrius holds Hoji’s hand and leads Hoji to the bed to sit down. He asks, "Do you still want me to leave?"

"N- No,” Hoji's grip tightens around Andrius' palm, “I- I don’t.”

Andrius sits down next to Hoji, and once he does, Hoji's arms wrap around Andrius' torso, burying his face into Andrius' chest. Andrius pats Hoji's back.

Neither of them are sure for now long they stayed like that, but it is long enough for the sun to go down. Eventually all Hoji can focus on is the rising and falling of Andrius' chest as he breathes in and out.

"Hoji? What- Uh- What was in the journal? If- Um- If you don't mind me asking," Andrius says, breaking the silence.

Hoji lets go of Andrius, and looks up, "There's a few maps that- that I want to keep and- and my drawings."

"You draw?"

"Y- Yeah. I- uh- I only just picked it back up."

“Oh. Well, if we find your journal, I wouldn’t mind seeing some of them.”

"You do?”

“Yeah, I want to know what my boyfriend has been doing while I’ve been studying,” Andrius laughs softly.

Hoji laughs, despite his worry, “I hope we can find it tomorrow, b- but we already searched all the places it could be. I- I couldn't have dropped it. I put it in my bag whenever I'm done writing in it, and I only had it here and in your- your dorm yesterday."

"O- Oh," Andrius shakily says, as he put his hand on Hoji's shoulder, "We can check again tomorrow."

Hoji looks up and locks eyes with Andrius. He gets lost in the worry of Andrius' eyes, noticing that he was wearing his metal glasses rather than his usual wooden ones. Hoji clenches his jaw a little more than before. "Y- Yeah," Hoji finally says, before breaking eye contact and looking down at his legs in front of him. 

Andrius brings his hand to Hoji's chin, lifting it up so that Hoji would look back at him again. Leaning in close, he presses his lips onto Hoji’s. As Hoji returns the kiss, he can faintly taste the ginger tea that stained Hoji's teeth. 

Hoji feels Andrius’ sharp fangs glaze across the inside of his mouth as they desperately try not to bite down on anything soft.

Andrius breaks off, "S- Sorry," moving his hand to his lap and looking towards Hoji's closet.

"What's there to be sorry for?" Hoji says reassuringly.

"I- I don't know, I felt-" Andrius quickly stands up, "I- I think it's time for me to leave."

Hoji looks up, "Why?"

“I- I overstepped,” Andrius rubs the back of his neck, “S- Sorry.”

Before Andrius is able to step away, Hoji grabs onto his wrist, “I think… I think I want you to stay.”

Andrius feels his stomach rise to his throat, as he turns to look back at Hoji, “You- You do?” 

Hoji blushes and moves his gaze towards the floor, "Y- Yeah."

"O- Okay," Andrius gently pulls away his wrist from Hoji, "Sh- Should I sleep- uh- Should I sleep on the floor."

"I think- I think you'd feel better in bed."

Andrius blushes, “Are- Are you sure?”

Hoji looks up at him again, “I… I am.”

Andrius finally sits back down on the bed, completely flushed. He puts his head in his hands trying to process what just happened. 

Hoji grabs onto Andrius' forearm and brings himself closer, leaning his head onto Andrius' shoulder.

Hoji's stubby horns poke into Andrius' arm, and Andrius feels Hoji's warm cheek through the sleeve of his shirt, as Hoji shifts to bring his knees to his chest.

"Andrius?" Hoji asks.

"Y- Yeah?" Andrius says through his hands.

Hoji leans into Andrius’ arm, "Thanks for staying."

"Are-" Andrius removes one of his hands off his face, "Are you sure you want me to sleep in the bed? You- You slept on my floor yesterday, I- I don’t mind doing the same for you."

“You don’t have to do that -- not when there’s a perfectly sized bed,” Hoji looks up at Andrius. He sees Andrius completely flustered, his eyes closed, one of his hands doing its best to cover his mouth, and leaning on one arm to keep himself upright. 

Andrius moves his hand up to his forehead and takes a deep breath, before he realizes Hoji has been staring at him. 

As Andrius turns to look at him, Hoji quickly turns away blushing. Letting go of Andrius, Hoji gets up and walks to the other side of the bed, trying his best to not look like a flustered mess. 

Andrius stands up, "Do- Uh- Do you have any spare cloth?"

"Y- Yeah, it- it should be in my bag, near the table."

"Th- Thanks,” Andrius says awkwardly before walking towards the table. Leaning down, Andrius quickly begins searching through Hoji's bag for a piece of cloth or canvas. 

Andrius finally finds a piece of cloth suitable for himself, and moves his tail so that he can wrap the cloth around the barb of it. After that, he takes off his vest from the academy uniform and hangs it on the chair. Andrius unbuckles his belt and takes it off to place on the chair as well. Feeling more comfortable, Andrius turns around to see Hoji staring at him. 

Hoji blushes and quickly looks away. 

With the bed now nicely folded, Hoji lifts up one of the blankets and climbs underneath it. He curls up into a ball, holding his knees and curling his back so that he can be the smallest he could be. 

Andrius slowly walks over to the other side of the bed, lifts the blankets, and climbs into the bed, careful that his tail stays on his side of the bed. As soon as he puts the blanket over his chest, his entire body stiffens. His entire face feels hot, and his chest feels tight.

The two of them lay there in the silence for a long while, hoping for sleep to end the awkwardness of it all, but sleep never comes. 

Andrius pipes up, "So- uh- we aren't going to- we aren't going to talk about this, r- right now?" Andrius says, feeling his words tremble.

Hoji turns over to face Andrius, "Wh- What is there to- to- uh- talk about?"

"Uh- Um- You know- This?!" Andrius gestures to both the bed and Hoji, "I- I can't sleep.”

Hoji sits up, "Quiet down, the- the neighbors might hear us."

"S- Sorry," Andrius sits up next to him, "How do we- uh- How do we sleep -- like this?”

Hoji sits up and yells a whisper, "I don't know! I'm having a hard time too!"

"I feel nervous that you want me to do something, but I- I don't know what to do; therefore, I'm just laying here confused and worried I'm making the wrong decision by doing nothing!" Andrius responds in a similarly toned voice.

"Well, I- I didn't want for us to do anything. I just- I just wanted you to stay,” Hoji says as he moves his gaze away from Andrius.

"Wh- Why?" Andrius says quietly, almost mumbling it. 

"You- You..." Hoji says quietly and grabs his upper arm, “You didn’t judge me for lying. You… You just accepted that I did. It- It made me feel better.”

Andrius turns to look at Hoji, “I- I made you feel better?”

“Of- Of course you did,” Hoji says and looks towards Andrius.

Their eyes meet and the two of them sit there silent for a moment. Andrius feels his heart thumping throughout his whole body. Hoji’s face feels red hot as he gulps, watching Andrius lean in. Hoji, hesitating at first, returns the kiss, letting their lips meet.

Hoji's hand, previously holding himself, moves onto Andrius' shoulder, slowly climbing its way upward towards his ear. 

Andrius' arm rises to Hoji's shoulder blade, and his hand feels the warmth through the fabric of Hoji' shirt. Leaning in further, Andrius pushes himself closer to Hoji.

Hoji feels Andrius’ chest press onto his, and he feels Andrius’ heartbeat, loud and thumping through his chest. Lifting his other arm, Hoji holds Andrius’ face with both hands, feeling his rough stubble on his fingertips.

Andrius pushes his chest into Hoji more, wrapping his arms around him.

Leaning himself back, Hoji wraps his arms around Andrius’ neck, trying to pull him down onto the bed. Hoji’s chest feels hot from how close Andrius is.

Once Hoji’s torso lays flat on the mattress, Andrius feels his abdomen press Hoji’s hip down.

Andrius’ heavy chest feels nearly suffocating to Hoji, but he doesn’t care. Only being able to focus on the taste of Andrius’ tongue, he shifts his legs to get more comfortable, trying his best to put one leg on either side of Andrius.

Andrius shifts himself to pull himself closer on Hoji, holding his hips up with his knees.

Finally being able to move his legs, Hoji shifts his knees to meet on either side of Andrius.

Pulling himself closer to Hoji, Andrius lowers himself, wrapping his arms around Hoji’s torso. Feeling something soft press up against his hips, Andrius’ entire body tenses up -- is that Hoji’s thighs?! Andrius’ eyes snap open. Looking at Hoji’s closed eyes through his crooked glasses, Andrius breaks off from kissing.

Andrius can’t get himself to move any further. Panting, he does his best to assess the situation. Holding himself up by his elbows over Hoji’s chest and abdomen, he stares down at Hoji. He can’t get himself to say a word while he feels Hoji’s arms loosen.

“Andrius?" Hoji worriedly says as he sees Andrius’ face flush a scarlet red.

"I- I-" Andrius brings himself up to a kneel. Looking down at Hoji’s laid body in front of him, he watches as Hoji takes hot and heavy breaths. Hoji’s thighs are on either side of him, and Hoji’s crotch lies exposed to Andrius’ thighs, nearly touching. Andrius' face somehow gets redder than before. Sitting on his hooves, he brings his hands to his face in embarrassment.

Hoji sits up and touches Andrius' forearm, "Hey, is everything okay?"

Andrius splits his fingers to see Hoji sitting and looking up at him. It’s only then he realizes that he’s been holding his breath. Pushing Hoji away from him, Andrius leans away to catch his breath.

"Andrius?” Hoji looks at him worriedly, “Are you okay?"

"I- I- I need to- I-"

"Hey, it's alright we aren't- we aren’t doing anything. Don't worry."

"B- B- But-"

"It's okay. You’re- You’re nervous. We don’t need to do anything.”

Andrius looks up at Hoji, "O- Okay.”

"Come here," Hoji wraps his arms around Andrius’ torso.

Andrius returns the gesture by hugging Hoji into his chest, "S- Sorry."

“It’s okay,” Hoji digs his face into Andrius’ chest, “You don’t need to apologize.”

“B- But I didn’t-”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Hoji closes his eyes, “I love you.”

Andrius leans his chin on Hoji’s head, “I love you too…”


	4. Sunday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Hoji spends the day with his adventuring party, Andrius finds himself something to do.

Hoji awakes clinging tight on Andrius' arm, head leaning on Andrius' shoulder more than the pillow, and knees reaching up to Andrius' elbow. Digging his face into Andrius' shoulder, he closely listens to Andrius' calm breathing.

Hearing a light-hearted “Hoji!” through the door, Andrius' ear twitches, and his eyes flutter open. Tiredly looking down at Hoji, he notices Hoji clutching his arm.

“Hoji!” the yell comes again.

Andrius sits up, taking his arm away from Hoji. 

Hoji makes a disappointed hum, still attempting to grab onto Andrius’ arm.

Andrius comments, "Oh sorry, I didn't know you were awake."

The same knock came again, "Hoji! Hoji! You got to come out! There's a gryphon!"

Hoji sits up and looks towards the door. Hoji sighs, "I wish I could stay next to you longer."

Andrius blushes and moves his gaze away from Hoji.

Hoji hugs Andrius’ arm briefly, before climbing out of bed. Walking to the door, Hoji opens it to be met with Honoka.

She excitedly yells, "I know it's early, but come over-"

Andrius and Honoka's eyes meet for a brief moment. Andrius tenses up at the sight, before Hoji closes the door behind him. 

"Good morning," Hoji says.

"Did I just- Actually, never mind. Let's go!" Honoka grabs Hoji’s wrist and pulls him through the hallway.

Andrius sits there in the bed alone for a little while. He already feels a little sad that Hoji left, but there was no time for that. Andrius grabs his glasses from the night stand and slowly gets up to sit over the side of the bed. Stretching, his hooves clack against the wooden floor as he stands up.

Imagining what Hoji’s yellow dyed leather journal would look like, Andrius begins to wonder if it still remains in his dorm room.

Entering his dorm, he begins sifting through his books on the shelf, in search of Hoji’s journal. Placing down each leather bound book flat on his desk, he finds that all of them are blue or red in coloration, not yellow. He sighs before hearing his door open.

As he steps into Andrius’ dorm, Jandor stings, “Oh, finally, you’re back.”

Andrius looks up at Jandor, “Yeah? This is my room.”

“You didn’t return after curfew last night.”

“O- Oh… Curfew…” Andrius looks back down at the assortment of books, “R- Right…”

Jandor sighs, “Are you going to return your books today?”

“Oh, right. I was um-” Andrius starts stacking the books in front of him, “I was planning on going right now, actually.”

“Need any help?”

“Um… Yeah, could you grab the ones on my shelf?”

Jandor nods and grabs several books from the shelf. Andrius is careful to ensure that none of the books that Jandor grabs are yellow in coloration, but no yellow leather-bound books can be seen as Jandor stacks them up on the desk next to him.

As Jandor and Andrius walk into the library with their stacks of books, Lyrica smiles, “Oh, hey guys.”

Andrius drops a stack of books onto the counter, “Hey, Lyrie.”

“Wow, you sure did take a lot of books this semester, huh?”

“They just kept stacking,” Andrius nervously laughs, “Plus, I keep forgetting to return them.”

Lyrica laughs, “Well, it’s good you brought them back today. I’ll take care of this first stack, alright?”

“Me and Jandor will work on the second stack then.”

After a few minutes, Lyrica finishes her stack. She sighs, “Andrius, you write all over the books so much that I don't think I can cover it up anymore."

Andrius looks up from one of the books, "You've been covering up my notes?”

"Yeah, ever since you returned your first book. It's been somewhat difficult, but it is not like I have much else to do while I sit here."

"Oh, that must be the reason why I don't get charged for them,” Andrius rubs the back of his neck, “Thanks, but I'll try to not write in them next semester."

Lyrica sighs, knowing that isn’t true, but appreciating Andrius’ efforts. Pulling out one of the books out of the pile, she hands it to Andrius, "But anyway, this book isn't the library's."

Andrius stares down at the pink leather bound journal that lay flat on the counter, "It- It isn't?"

"No, I have no idea where you got it from, but it most certainly isn't from here,” she opens the book and points at the words of the first page, “The contents are in oni, and the professor doesn’t hold any books in that language besides the translation book."

Andrius picks up the journal and quickly flips through it's pages, "Where is the oni translation book? I'll see if I can translate it myself."

Jandor snickers, "Hey, doesn't your lover speak oni?"

Andrius feels his shoulders jolt suddenly, before turning to look at Jandor's sly grin, "Sh- Shut up.”

"Am I wrong?"

Andrius feels his brow furrow, "He’s- He’s busy today."

"Oh, how very convenient," Jandor shrugs, "I know where the oni translation book is. I'll go get it for you."

As Jandor walks away, Andrius groans and leans onto the counter.

Lyrica pats him on the back, "Has Hoji been nice?"

"Y- Yeah," Andrius sighs, "Although last night was... awkward."

"Oh? Did something happen?"

"I guess the right thing to say is that nothing happened. Nothing happened last night. Nothing happened the night Hoji brought me back from drinking. Nothing happened at all."

Lyrica gives Andrius a concerned look, “What do you mean by ‘nothing?’”

“Nothing… happened…”

Lyrica frowns. Andrius is not the one to lie, and his defeated demeanor doesn’t exactly give Lyrica much hope for Andrius’ relationship status. “Andry, did you and Hoji get into a fight?” she says hoping to get a clearer picture.

“What?! That is not what happened at all. We- We just- you know…” Andrius’ defeated demeanor returns. He has no idea how to explain to Lyrica what happened last night without it sounding awkward.

Lyrica is quick to realize what happened. Did they sleep together?! Looking at Andrius’ nervous look, she comes to realize the answer of that question: they did! It seems that Andrius doesn’t want to tell her, and that’s okay. She’s still so proud. Her eyes almost sparkle with how proud she is to see Andrius finally growing up.

Andrius stands there awkwardly staring at the counter.

Patting Andrius, Lyrica holds back tears. 

Jandor returns with the oni translation book to find Lyrica patting Andrius’ shoulder. Turning to Lyrica, Jandor asks, “Did he tell you?”

Lyrica nods, “I understand what happened.”

Andrius looks up, “You do?”

“Yes, I- I can’t believe it. Andrius, you are truly becoming a fine young man, and there is nothing stopping you now.”

Andrius gives her a confused look.

Jandor nods, “I couldn’t believe it either.” Placing the translation book onto the counter, he begins comforting Lyrica.

Andrius doesn’t understand what is happening. “I’m- I’m going to head back to my dorm to figure out what’s in this journal,” he says as he picks up the journal and the translation book.

Jandor starts patting Lyrica’s shoulder and turns towards Andrius, “Alright, but you should bring Hoji to meet us again sometime.”

“Okay? I guess I could do that,” Andrius stands awkwardly for a moment, “I’ll- I’ll see you guys later then.”

Lyrica sniffles, “They grow up so fast.”

Heading towards the dorm, Andrius flips through the pages of the pink journal as he walks. The journal’s leather is still quite tough, implying that it may be new. After examining it for a few minutes, Andrius notices a bookmark. The red bookmark’s fine fabric shines in the sunlight. The red color of the bookmark and the pink leather match quite nicely -- at least Andrius thinks so. The bookmark is soft to the touch, giving Andrius the temptation to to feel it with his cheek. Pushing that thought aside, he opens to the page it is on. He finds an unfinished drawing of a rhino beetle! It is incredibly detailed and takes up the entire page! There is text on the page, but it seems to only be two or three word phrases contained in the margins. 

Quickly flipping through all the pages, Andrius finds a variety of drawings of bugs and other forest creatures. They are all thoroughly detailed, but each of them looks as though they are more for aesthetic purposes than scientific. Most of the larger drawings have the same or similar phrases found on the rhino beetle drawing. The smaller drawings, that are generally contained in the margins, have less or none of these phrases. These in-margin drawings are the most interesting to Andrius, since the majority of them are of the same subject.

Next to long bodies of text, these in-margin drawings scatter throughout most of the pages. At least half of them are of the same subject: a mouth with fangs as sharp as knives and soft lips. Andrius could not understand why the writer drew this subject so many times, but with the amount of them throughout the journal, Andrius could only assume that these drawings are not for practice of their skill but are for distracted pleasure. Since all the mouths are the same, Andrius understands that it was not the mouths themselves that are important about these drawings; what is important is what they are doing: most of the mouths smile kindly; some huff heavily; others drool with clear liquids. Andrius wonders what the writer finds so appealing about them. 

Finally getting into his dorm, Andrius examines the fang pattern in the journal. The fangs in the book have both sharp canines on the top and bottom lines of teeth, and knowing that Hoji's tusks were only prominent on the bottom line of teeth and are a lot more blunt than the ones drawn in the book, he can assume that these sharp knife-like fangs are not oni. Standing in front of his mirror and opening his mouth to examine his own fangs, he compares his fangs to those in the journal. Seeing that the fangs in the journal more resemble his fangs, Andrius confirms that the mouths drawn in the book are most likely those of a tiefling. However, he cannot get confirmation until he translates the book himself. 

Andrius knows that Hoji would be much faster at translating, but he also knows Hoji is busy with his adventuring party at the moment and doesn’t want to disrupt him. Sitting down at his desk, he opens up to the first page. 

The first page is covered in text, leaving little room for drawings, if there were any. The page has text covering the entirety of the page from top to bottom, even within the margins. It seems that the writer didn’t want this page to go to waste.

Opening the translation dictionary, Andrius begins comparing the first character to the Oni characters at the front of the dictionary.

After an hour, he manages to translate the first sentence "Day one, I am headed back to [unknown]." Sadly, Andrius cannot figure out what the unknown word is. He tries saying it out loud but with no luck. Andrius wonders if Hoji could help him later but continues translating the rest of the page.

The first page generally describes the writer sitting in the back of a carriage and why they started keeping a journal. Andrius has been writing the translation in Infernal in the margins, and by the end of the day, the small amount of empty space on the first page is now filled with Infernal translations. 

Andrius stretches and yawns, as he puts the journal and dictionary into his book shelf and looks outside.

The stars shined brightly in the night sky, and Andrius feels tired. He stands up from his desk and begins sifting through his closet to find his night clothes, before he hears a knock on the door.

"Yes?!" Andrius yells as he turns to look at his door.

"It's Hoji."

Andrius stops looking through his closet and walks up to his door. As he opens it, he sees Hoji standing there.

“Hey,” Hoji looks a little nervous, “My party is leaving tomorrow morning, and they wanted to see you."

Andrius stands in the doorframe dumbfounded, "They- They do?"

"Yeah, I don't know what it's about, I think- uh- I think they want to know how you are doing.”

"I never would have thought- Do they know that- um- you and I are-"

"Yeah, I think they just want to make sure you're okay- um- with me."

"Oh," Andrius blushes a little, "Is- Is this like meeting your parents?"

"What?" Hoji looks at him confused, “What do you mean?”

"It’s tradition for lovers to meet each other’s parents. Is that not in Oni culture?”

“Oh, um- no, can you tell me about it?”

“Well, it’s… it’s like a rite of passage for the partner.”

“O- Oh,” Hoji feels his chest tense. Taking a deep breath, he feels his heart ache, “A… rite… of… passage…”

Andrius puts his hand on Hoji’s shoulder, “Hoji, are you okay?”

"Y- Yeah... S- Sorry... I'll see you at the tavern in a few, okay?" Hoji says as he pushes Andrius’ hand off his shoulder. 

"Um- O- Okay,” Andrius says as he watches Hoji go down the corridor with worrisome eyes. 

Hoji slowly walks down the hallway away from Andrius. His arms desperately trying to grab onto his shoulders, he hangs his head down. 

Andrius stands there awkwardly for a few moments as he watches Hoji turn the corner of the hallway.

Quickly grabbing his jacket, Andrius runs down the hall. Turning the corner, he looks around. Hoji is gone. Andrius sighs. 

He shouldn’t have hesitated. 

His eyes are glued to the ground as he walks towards the tavern. He hopes that Hoji will be there. Andrius wants to know what he did wrong. Hoji looked really scared so suddenly; it caught Andirus off guard. He feels bad for not going after him faster. He should have ran after him as soon as he started walking away. Andrius sighs heavily.

As he enters the tavern, Hoji's adventuring party each raises a cup and yells in Andrius' direction.

As Andrius comes to sit down, the party is laughing at Sumi's story that ended with, "And so, the chicken stayed!"

Once Andrius sits down, Honoka quickly swings her arm around him. "So Andrius!" she hiccups. "Where's-" Honoka pulls Andrius down a little, "Where's Hoji?!"

"He’ll… He’ll be coming," Andrius says more for himself than Honoka.

"Well," Honoka hiccups again. "While- While we-" she unwraps her arm around Andrius. "We wait, how-" she burps. "How about you-" she swings her arm across the table, knocking over Mittens' tea, "You have a drink… with us?”

Mittens yells "Hey!" as Honoka pulls the full bottle of mead off the table.

"I really shouldn't-" Andrius pleads.

"Come on-" Honoka lifts the mead up. "Hoji ain't-" she hiccups, "Hoji ain't here."

Within the span of a few seconds, Honoka manages to lift Andrius' chin and the bottle of mead and forces Andrius to chug it down, despite Andrius desperate pleads. Sumi starts chanting, "Chug! Chug! Chug!" and soon the rest of the party follow suit as the bottle is pushed against Andrius’ mouth.

Honoka pulls the bottle away from Andrius and lifts it up to present the completely empty bottle to the whole party. “He did it!” she shouts. The party cheers and yells in congratulations.

Andrius coughs as he feels the burn of alcohol stain his throat. He leans on his elbows on the table, before letting out a burp.

The tavern doors open. Turning towards the door, Andrius sees Hoji walking into the tavern. 

“Shit, not again,” Andrius says as he feels his shoulders tense. He doesn’t feel drunk yet, but he feels his throat push down the burning alcohol.

Hoji quickly walks over to see a mess of spilled tea and alcohol, a sad Mittens, three drunk party members loudly singing, and an Andrius with his face in his hands. Hoji sits down next to Andrius and places his hand on his shoulder. "Please don’t tell me you're drunk too," Hoji worriedly says trying to look at Andrius’ eyes.

Andrius takes his hands off his face and turns to look at Hoji, "Gonna be soon."

Hoji sighs angrily, "That's it.” He slams his hands on the table, “Day's over.” Hoji lifts Andrius' arm up, “Mittens, Andrius, Come on."

Slowly standing up, Andrius asks, “Wait, what? I thought your party wanted to talk to me.”

“They did. I didn’t think it would get like this,” Hoji says annoyed, “Mittens?”

“Honoka spilled my tea,” Mittens says sadly.

“Come on, I’ll get you more tea tomorrow morning,” Hoji says as he walks away from the table, still holding onto Andrius’ arm.

Hoji leads the three of them up to the inn's bedrooms. Hoji is practically pulling Andrius up the stairs, as Andrius starts to feel his legs start to wobble more with every step.

Once all three of them get to the top of the stairs, Hoji turns to Andrius, "How drunk are you right now?"

"Y- Yeah," Andrius responds, leaning on the wall.

Hoji groans in frustration, before grabbing onto Andrius' hand and stomping down the hall.

As Hoji unlocks his room's door, Andrius leans his back on the wall. "Wha-" Andrius presses his hand against his forehead, "What about Mittens?"

"He's sleeping with us,” Hoji says sternly. 

Andrius looks at Mittens and back at Hoji, "What?!"

"I can't have him sleeping on his own or with anyone in the party right now. He's gonna do his cat thing and sleep by our ankles, but more importantly, you-" Hoji pauses to open the door. Looking at Andrius, he says in a stern voice, "You're staying with me too. You're not going anywhere until you sober up tomorrow morning."

Walking through the door, Hoji grabs Andrius' hand and pulls him in. Mittens follows and closes the door behind the three of them. Hoji quickly lights all the candles in the room, as Andrius slowly stumbles to the bed.

While walking towards the bed, Andrius loses his balance and trips on the wooden floorboards, making him fall to his knees. Crawling, Andrius climbs onto the bed, laying stomach down. He drunkenly laughs between the covers, “The blankets smell like Hoji.” He smiles softly, not being able to focus on much else.

As he sits down at the table, Hoji mumbles Oni curses under his breath. As a few minutes pass to calm himself down, he watches Mittens explore his room. 

Mittens runs around the room, excited to see all the rocks that Hoji has in the drawers. He opens up the closet drawers and the nightstands to find the various rocks and crystals Hoji has collected over the past few weeks. To Mittens, each rock is prettier than the last, and he occasionally shows them off to Hoji, despite him being the one collecting them.

After about thirty minutes of rummaging, Mittens gets tired of the shiny rocks and sits on the bed. Mittens looks up curiously at Hoji, "Hoji? What's a boyfriend?"

Hoji sighs before walking over to sit down next to Mittens on the bed. He responds, "You don't need to know that."

"But, everyone keeps saying it when they talk about you and Andrius! Is it bad?!”

"No, it’s not."

"Then, what is it?"

"It's the word you use for when two people are in love, but not like the way you love your siblings or the adventuring party -- it's different."

"Different how?"

"You know how your parents loved each other very much?"

Mittens thinks for a moment, "I guess so."

"It's like that."

"Gross! You guys kiss?!"

Hoji snickers, "Yeah."

"I hope I never get a boyfriend! That sounds awful!"

“You’ll understand better when you’re older,” Hoji chuckles and pats Mittens, "But, it’s time to go to bed."

Mittens pouts, "Okay."

Hoji gets under the covers, and Mittens curls into a ball right where he was sitting. The two fall asleep peacefully.

Andrius is the first to wake up, and he finds Hoji wrapped around his arm. Hoji is holding onto Andrius' arm tight, and his head lays on top of Andrius' shoulder. Andrius sighs, as he removes his arm from Hoji, careful to not wake him. He turns over and sits on the side of the bed.

Mittens sits up and yawns audibly. 

Andrius looks at Mittens over his shoulder, "Oh, sorry, I forgot you were there."

"I get that a lot," Mittens says as he hops off the bed. He quickly walks over to Andrius' side of the bed, and asks, "You and Hoji… Are you two boyfriends?"

"Yes, we are."

"Do you two kiss?!"

Andrius laughs under his breath, "Yeah, we do."

Mittens gasps in shock, "On the lips?!"

Andrius chuckles, "Yeah, on the lips."

Mittens gasps -- louder this time, enough to wake up Hoji.

Hoji sits up and yawns, "What are you two talking about?"

Mittens slams both his hands onto the bed, "You two kiss each other -- on the lips?!"

Hoji snickers, "Yes, Mittens, we kiss each other -- on the lips."

"How do you live like that?!" Mittens yells.

Andrius and Hoji both snicker and chuckle a bit.

"What's so funny?!" Mittens yells and huffs exaggeratedly.

Andrius pats Mittens on the head, "You'll get it when you're older." Andrius stands up and stretches, "I'm going to go back to translating the journal I found."

"Journal?" Hoji perks up.

Andrius turns to face Hoji, "Yes, it's not yours. It's dyed pink. I still haven't found yours, sorry.”

"That’s okay. I’m thinking about just buying a new one tomorrow,” Hoji laughs nervously, “But, you’re translating the journal? What language is it in?"

"It's in Oni, and well, it is a bit difficult to read. The handwriting of its writer leaves much to be desired. Oh, and there are a few words I cannot translate whatsoever, I think they might be names or places."

"I'll have to help you sometime, but I need to say goodbye to my party. They are leaving today, after all."

"Of course, I'll be in my dorm, when you need me."

"Alright, I'll see you later tonight?"

"See you later tonight," Andrius leans over the bed and kisses Hoji -- on the lips!

Mittens is disgusted and looks away, "Ew, gross! Don't do that!"

Andrius pulls back, "Oh, sorry Mittens," and pats Mittens' head, before walking out the door.

Hoji hums happily, before turning to Mittens, "Want to go wake the others?"

Mittens eyes shine, "You think I can scare them?"

Hoji gets out of bed, "Oh, definitely."

The two of them cause a little bit of chaos, scaring each of the party members awake. After a few hours of laughing and treating the party’s hangovers, Hoji wishes his party a farewell when they leave for Nekojin.


	5. The Pink Journal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After translating the pink journal himself, Andrius discovers something about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: NSFW (sex)

In his dorm, Andrius has just finished translating the fifth entry of the journal. This entry is the most interesting by far, containing a conversation that writer had that day. Despite Andrius not being able to translate the name of the person the writer was talking to, he is able to get an understanding that the writer was in love with whomever they were. It is a nervous kind of love though, filled with worry and wonder, similar to right before you ask someone out for the first time -- a fear of rejection still a tangible feeling in the stomach. The butterflies the writer felt reminds Andrius of when he and Hoji were in the forest and makes him wonder if the writer had the confidence to ask them out. They definitely seem like they wanted to, despite how cripplingly nervous they were. Smirking at the thought that someone else could somehow feel more awkward than his experience with Hoji, Andrius guesses that he'll be able to find out if they did start dating by translating the journal further. 

However, Andrius is more focused on the maps within the third and fourth entries. The wind shrine and the path there is clearly marked on these maps, so they must be the local forest, making him wonder what the symbols of certain landmarks are. Most of the landmarks are clearly marked with a drawing or words that Andrius could easily translate, but there are some phrases that label these landmarks that are not on in the translation dictionary. Wanting to find out what these words mean, Andrius packs a bag of food, water, and the journal, before starting his walk into the forest.

Meanwhile, Hoji decides to see if he can map out the forest again. Most of his maps are in his journal, and now that it is gone, Hoji is going to have to remap almost all of it. As he gathers the parchment and inkwells he needs, he sighs thinking about the possibility that is having to find entirely new landmarks. He has been walking through the forest for a while now -- maybe he’ll be able to refind his landmarks. The old tree next to the boulder is probably the best place to start, since it is nearest to the tree line. Thinking about the various landmarks near the treelines, he steps outside.

Hoji eventually finds himself back at the clearing he had been visiting the past few weeks. Calmed by the fact that he was able to find it again, he sits down leaning on a large tree. Hoji takes a deep breath of the warm spring air and closes his eyes.

Hoji hears hoofsteps come from around the tree across the clearing, but he isn’t scared. They sound calm, as they slowly walk towards Hoji.

Andrius walks around a tree and sees Hoji. With a large smile on his face, Andrius waves, "Hoji!"

Hoji smiles, "Andrius!"

Andrius walks over to Hoji and sits beside him, "What are you doing?"

Hoji looks up at him, "I’m remapping the forest."

“Oh! That sounds like fun. Are you enjoying it?”

“Um… Yeah,” Hoji blushes, staring at Andrius’ mouth as it moves. Giving a flustered smile, he feels his face get a little hot.

"H- Hoji?" Andrius says as he places a hand on Hoji's back.

Andrius never really noticed Hoji’s staring before, and Hoji has doubts that he’ll notice now. Continuing to stare as Andrius’ mouth moves as the words stutter out, Hoji manages to say, “Y- Yeah?”

Andrius’ hand lifts from Hoji's back and slides across Hoji's neck up to his chin. Moving Hoji’s head to look at him, Andrius leads Hoji’s gaze to meet his eyes. As Hoji’s face blushes bright red, Andrius leans in close.

The two's lips meet. Andrius' glasses press up against the bridge of Hoji's nose, as his tongue explores deep into Hoji's mouth. Holding onto the back of Hoji’s shirt, Andrius leans into him.

Hoji could feel Andrius' fangs almost pierce into his tongue. Tasting the strawberry that had gotten stuck between Andrius' teeth, Hoji puts his hand onto Andrius' chest.

Andrius breaks off from kissing, breathing heavily. He slowly leans down, moving his head to Hoji's shoulder. Pressing his tongue down onto the skin, he feels Hoji tense up.

Feeling Andrius’ breath on his neck, Hoji breathes nervously, grabbing onto Andrius’ shirt.

Andrius' fangs graze against Hoji’s skin, as he moves his hand downwards from Hoji’s shoulder. Feeling up Hoji’s chest and abdomen, he slides his hand to the waistband of Hoji’s pants. Moving to Hoji’s crotch, he presses his hand down hard.

Hoji tenses his legs around Andrius’ wrist. Putting his hand onto Andrius' inner thigh, Hoji could feel Andrius' hard dick through the thick fabric of his pants. Trying to find Andrius’ tip, Hoji rubs his hand across Andrius’ shaft. 

Andrius grunts before bringing his hand back to Hoji’s waistband. Slowly letting his finger into Hoji's pants, he feels Hoji’s abdomen tense up. Pushing his entire hand through, he slowly lowers his hand until it reaches Hoji’s pussy. Rubbing his finger on the tip of Hoji’s clit, Andrius feels Hoji’s thighs tighten around his hand again. He uses two fingers to rub between Hoji's lips, rising and falling. Using his middle finger, Andrius enters Hoji.

Hoji grunts softly into Andrius' ear, as he squeezes on Andrius' penis. 

Thrusting his finger in and out, Andrius brings his head up to face Hoji. Kissing Hoji roughly, Andrius puts two fingers in and begins thrusting harder. 

Hoji can’t focus on anything other than Andrius’ fingers and tongue going deep inside of him. 

Removing his hand and separating himself from Hoji, Andrius unbuckles his belt and unbuttons his pants, revealing his hard cock. Leaning back down, he grabs onto the waistband of Hoji’s pants and pulls down. Andrius grips the back side of Hoji's thigh and pulls Hoji’s leg through, making it exposed to forest air around them. Holding up Hoji's leg, Andrius moves in closer. Letting their lips meet again, the shaft of Andrius' penis rubs against Hoji’s hard clit.

"Hoji!" Andrius yells from the other side of the clearing, waving his hand excitedly.

Hoji's eyes, previously shut tight, snap open at the sound of Andrius' far away voice. Looking up, Hoji’s face goes red. He nonchalantly pulls out the fingers he has in his pussy, before lifting his other hand to give a shy wave and forcing a smile. His knees are tight next his chest, covering whatever Andrius could see from across the clearing. Hoji takes his hand out of his pants and holds it close to his stomach. Blushing, he watches as Andrius walks closer and closer to him. Hoji breathes in deeply before wiping his wet hand on his shirt, trying his best to hide his hand from Andrius’ view.

Eventually Andrius walks next to Hoji and sits next to him, "I didn’t expect you to find you here.”

"W- Well, I’m- I’m here,” Hoji responds in a quiet voice, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"Indeed you are! Oh, I came here because I found a map in the journal I’m translating. It’s in the third entry, and I got curious about where it led. I guess it led to you!" Andrius chuckles.

"I- I guess it did," Hoji says, holding his hands close to his abdomen.

"Hoji, is there something wrong?"

"It's- It's nothing. Nothing you need to worry about,” Hoji pulls his knees closer to his chest, “You said you wanted help with translating?"

Andrius gives Hoji a worried look. "Well, alright, and yes, I- I did say that. Here, let me grab the journal," he says as he pulls his bag in front of him and opens it up.

As Andrius pulls out the journal, Hoji's eyes widen in horror. The journal, yellow in color, is held loosely in Andrius hand. That’s Hoji’s journal -- his yellow-dyed leather bound journal! Hoji snatches the journal out of Andrius' hands and screams, "Andrius!"

Andrius looks at Hoji dumbfounded, "What? What's wrong?"

"This is my journal!" Hoji clutches his journal to his chest.

"I thought you said your journal was dyed yellow?"

"This is yellow!"

"But… Isn’t it pink?”

"Andrius! The journal is yellow!”

"I see pink."

"Andrius, are you color blind?!"

Andrius stops and stares at the journal and back at Hoji, "Is- Is it not pink?”

"No! It’s yellow!"

"B- But it looks- it looks pink to me.”

Hoji picks up a nearby dandelion and pushes it into Andrius' face, "What color is this?!"

"L- Light pink?"

"Light pink?!” Hoji throws the dandelion down, “It's yellow!" He curls his entire body around the journal he holds tightly to his chest, "How far did you get into my journal?!"

"I- Uh-” Andrius turns away shamefully, “En- Entry five.”

Hoji opens up his journal. The first few pages are covered in infernal. Hoji makes a concerned look and blushes, "Thank gods, you were miles away from the- the- uh…”

Andrius rubs the back of his neck, before turning to look at Hoji again, “S- Sorry…”

The two sit in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes, neither wanting to speak up nor leave. 

Hoji finally speaks in a quiet voice, "Uh- You- You didn't know it was my journal?”

"N- No,” Andrius says, still looking away.

Hoji sighs loudly, "I'm glad you found it."

Andrius perks up to look at Hoji, "Even though I read it?"

"It- It's fine. You didn't- You didn't read the part-” Hoji starts mumbling his words, “The part…”

Andrius sits there silent for a moment, afraid to ask. Despite his nervousness, he stutters, “I- I saw your drawings.”

"O- Oh..." Hoji curls around his journal, “Which… Which ones?”

"All… All of them.”

"So you saw… you saw my… my drawings of-" Hoji blushes, looks away, and speaks in a quiet tone, "Of your mouth."

"My mouth...?"

"Y- Yeah," he says in a quiet tone, before quickly turning to look up at Andrius, "I'm sorry! I know it's kinda creepy. It's just that I-"

"Creepy? Uh- I- I,” Andrius looks down at Hoji nervously, “I guess I don’t mind.”

"Are you sure? I- I can stop.”

"No need for that. It’s your journal. I have no right to tell you what to do in it."

"I- I guess you’re right," Hoji blushes and pushes his face into his journal, “S- Sorry.”

"You… You don’t have to apologize. You- You just like drawing them, right?”

"Y- Yeah."

"Can- Can I ask why?"

"It’s… It’s embarrassing,” Hoji turns away blushing.

"I… I understand. You uh- You don’t have to tell me, then.”

"Th- Thanks."

Andrius and Hoji sit there in an awkward silence for a while.

“Are you feeling alright?” Andrius looks up at Hoji, “Do- Do you want to head back?”

"I-" Hoji sighs, "I don’t know.”

Andrius pulls out a pack of dried vegetables from his bag and hands it to Hoji, “Do you think this’ll help you decide?”

Hoji gently takes the pack, “You- You brought rations?”

“Yeah, I didn’t- I didn’t know if I’d get hungry while I was walking."

“Th- Thanks,” Hoji opens the pack, “Here I’ll share.”

"Oh, okay,” Andrius moves closer to Hoji to look inside the pack.

Hoji moves the pack so that Andirus could look inside of it, “Wh- What did you read in my journal?”

Andrius grabs a dried carrot slice, “Um- I think I read up to the day you came back to Kutabe.”

“Ah…”

“I thought it was just me,” Andrius laughs softly, “Being nervous, I mean.”

Hoji blushes, “I mean of course I was nervous.”

“But you handled the situation much better than I ever could, especially thinking what you did.”

Hoji grabs a dried piece of celery, “I- I guess, but it doesn’t feel like it.”

Andrius crunches on the carrot, “If I thought you had feelings for someone else, I would never have the courage to even look at you -- let alone talk to you.”

Hoji leans on Andrius, “Are… Are you complimenting me?”

Andrius blushes, “I guess- I guess I am doing that.”

“Thanks, then,” Hoji crunches on the dried celery.

Andrius wraps his arm around Hoji, letting Hoji’s head lean onto his chest.

Hoji feels Andrius’ warm chest slowly rise and fall. Putting his hand onto Andrius’ lap, Hoji feels a little less better at all of this, “Sorry for yelling at you.”

Andrius places his hand onto Hoji's.

Hoji intertwines his fingers with Andrius’, “I- I got scared. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“What were you scared of?”

Hoji sighs, “Y- You.”

“Me?”

“Y- Yeah, I- I was scared that you’d think poorly of me.”

“Oh,” Andrius tightens his grip, “I would never do that.”

“That’s… That’s nice to hear,” Hoji digs his face into Andrius’ chest.

Andrius moves his hand to pick up Hoji’s chin, “You’re not mad at me for reading your journal, are you?”

Hoji looks up at Andrius, “I’m- I’m not. I just-” He sighs and looks down at Andrius’ lap, “I don’t know how I feel about it.”

“I apologize for not showing you the journal sooner. I- I feel bad that I didn’t.”

“It’s okay. You- You didn’t know. I- I guess I feel relieved you didn’t read that far into it, but I also feel… exposed.”

“I’m sorry,” Andrius loosens his grip a little, “I- I don’t want you to feel that way.”

Hoji tightens his grip around Andrius’ palm, “It’s okay. I- I feel okay now.”

Andrius sighs in relief, “I’m glad.”

Hoji leans into Andrius’ chest, grabbing another dried celery from the pack.

Raising his hand, Andrius combs his hand through Hoji’s hair and leans down to peck a kiss.

Hoji looks up at Andrius. Staring into his eyes, Hoji doesn’t want to look away. Feeling his heart beat faster, he blushes.

Leaning down, Andrius places his forehead onto Hoji’s, "Hoji, I love you."

Hoji brings his hand up to Andrius’ neck, “I love you too.”

As their lips meet, Andrius wraps his arm around Hoji's head, holding it steady.

Hoji gently holds onto Andrius' neck, as he feels Andrius' fangs clack against his own tusks. Hoji could taste the salty carrot, as he felt Andrius' lean into him more and more. As Hoji leans back, the two's legs begin to entwine. Hoji's knee lifts so that it could feel Andrius' hip.

Andrius adjusts himself so that he is on his knees, each pressing down the dirt on either side of Hoji's leg. After moving his arm downward to Hoji's back, Andrius leans further in. Their chests meet. Andrius feels the tightness of Hoji’s chest and shoulders and Hoji’s hand go through the back of his hair. Andrius presses his stomach onto Hoji’s, trying his best to get as close to Hoji as he can.

Hoji feels Andrius’ crotch press up against his. Andrius already has an erection, and Hoji suddenly becomes hyper aware of how wet he is. He suddenly feels his entire body start to tremble. Snapping his eyes open, he breaks off from kissing. With a worried look on his face, he looks at Andrius’ panting mouth. Putting his hands on his face and desperately trying to bring his knees to his chest, all of the possibilities of what could go wrong flood his thoughts. 

With a worried expression, Andrius asks, "Is- Is everything alright?"

Hoji sits there trembling, "I- I don't- I don't know."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm-" Andrius slowly lets go of Hoji, "Did I- Did I go too far?"

"I- I don't- I'm-" Hoji sits there stuttering for a moment.

"Hoji, it's okay," Andrius says, as he slowly moves away.

Hoji curls himself up and hugs his knees. "S- Sorry," he says in a small voice only barely enough for Andrius to hear.

"Hoji," Andrius places a hand on one of Hoji's knees, "Don't worry."

Andrius sits there and waits for Hoji to stop trembling, offering the support he can without getting too close. Holding Hoji's hand, he does his best to apologize, "I'm sorry, Hoji. Can- Can you tell me what went wrong?"

"N- Nothing. Nothing went wrong. I just- I just can't- I couldn't- I couldn’t do it. You- You were fine. I just- I just got nervous…”

"Why?"

“There’s… There’s too many reasons. I just- I don’t know I don’t want what happened a few days ago I… I guess.”

“Oh…” Andrius looks down, “What happened a few days ago…”

“Sorry…”

Andrius rubs the back of his neck, before looking up at Hoji, "Hoji?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you- do you do something different?"

"Different?"

"I- I don't think either of us can do this without getting nervous."

"Y- Yeah, I guess so."

"How about we plan a day? Instead of us just jumping into it unprepared like we did today and the other day."

"I- I guess that might work out better."

"So, do you- uh- do you want to try?"

"Yeah, I do.”

***

Walking through the threshold of his dorm, Andrius is left alone, trying to gather his thoughts. That was a lot. Andrius tries to recount the events of today in his head, but it all feels complicated and messy. He is glad that he'd finally be able to go to bed, but he also feels saddened by the fact that he didn't ask Hoji to stay for the night. However, he feels that would have made things even more awkward than it already is. He sighs. 

Maybe it is better to leave things for two days.

_It’s worse after two days._

All Andrius did was lie in bed, unsure how he felt about all of this. Even while he sorted the books at the library, he finds himself distracted thinking about Hoji, completely messing up the order of the books. Jandor and Lyrica snapped him out of his thought process every few hours, despite him going back to his thousand yard stare only a couple of minutes after. It’s only an hour before sunset does his focus finally shift to worrying about something else: their date.

Walking out of the library, he already feels the butterflies eating his stomach. He should get flowers. Hoji likes flowers. He likes pink flowers. Wait or does he like yellow flowers…? 

Okay. Flowers are off the table.

Looking down at his shirt, he thinks for a moment. He should wear something nicer instead. That'll make up for the lack of flowers. Hoji likes button-ups. Andrius is already wearing a button-up, but it isn't ironed. Maybe he should change into a pressed shirt, but wouldn’t that be harder to take off? Oh gods, that is not what the thoughts Andrius wants to have at that moment. 

His guts do gymnastics as he walks back to his dorm. A pressed shirt will be better, even if it is more difficult to take off.

After twenty minutes, he finds a suitable shirt and a black tie. Grabbing his metal glasses, Andrius looks at himself in the mirror. 

He holds his chin up high and smiles.

The short lived confidence fades fast. His legs weak until he is leaning on the shelf in front of his mirror, his head pressed down hard against the shelf. 

How the hell does changing his shirt change anything? It's been four weeks since they started dating, and Andrius hasn’t had the confidence to go to second base. Who says he’s going to have the confidence to do tonight?

He brings himself down into a squat, holding himself up by holding the shelf. Cautious to look at himself in the mirror, he feels his heartbeat thumping through his entire body. His stomach twists and turns. His shoulders raise themselves near to his ears. He can barely get himself to stand up again.

Despite his entire being rejecting the idea of the date, he forces himself to begin walking to the restaurant.

After tripping several times on the way there, Andrius finds himself at a bench at the front of the restaurant. He sits down and crosses his legs, feeling his chest start to ache. He taps his claws against the wooden panels of the bench, worrying. 

Is it better to wear the pressed shirt? Is that objectifying his body? Would Hoji even appreciate it? He would, right? He would have to undress him when they get to the room, so maybe it wouldn’t be as good. Wait, what room would they be staying in? Oh gods, what room do they stay in? The inn is not going to be that private. The walls of that place feel paper thin. Even though Andrius had only stayed there a few times, he remembers hearing people through the walls of that place. His dorm is not much better. He shares a wall with Jandor. That would be embarrassing. The walls of this place are a little thicker than the inn, but Andrius knows he moans. What if his moans go through the walls? Oh gods, what if Hoji moans?! Does Hoji moan?!

Andrius looks down at the stone path beneath him. He holds his tail close to his chest, sweating at the thought that Hoji might get cut by it. He bounces his leg in nervousness, as he realizes that night has fallen. Looking up at the dark sky, his stomach rises to his throat. 

Did Hoji stand him up? That can't be right. 

Maybe he is just late… But late by two hours?

Andrius knows that Hoji wouldn't be the one to be this late. All the cafes they went to, each time Andrius had invited him, he showed up on time. He was usually there first, if not twenty minutes early. This is very unlike him. Andrius worries as the night sky begins to flicker with stars.

Andrius sits up.

This can’t be right. Something is wrong. Hoji has never missed one of their dates before, and he wouldn't start doing that now… or would he?

Andrius leans on his knees. Tonight’s different. Tonight they’re actually planning on doing something. Maybe Hoji is just preparing for the worst. Andrius shouldn’t shame him for that.

However, with the butterflies gnawing away at his stomach, Andrius could feel like it was more than that. Two hours is a long time. Hoji wouldn’t be late by two hours. 

He’s not coming.

Andrius sighs.

Looking towards the tavern, he finds himself wondering if Hoji is there.

Hoji wouldn’t be in the forest this late at night. Standing up, Andrius finds himself walking towards the inn. His tail curls around his leg tighter with every step there, and he feels his entire being wanting him to stop.

Walking to Hoji's door, Andrius knocks, "Hoji?! It's me, Andrius!"

Despite the lack of response, Andrius knows Hoji is there.

“Did something happen? Did… Did I do something wrong?”

Leaning his ear on the door the best that he could with his horns, he tries to hear if there’s a response.

Breaking the silence, he says, “I… I’m sorry that I planned this day. You're nervous, aren't you…? I… I’m more nervous than I expected, and I couldn’t possibly imagine what you’re going through right now. But… But I’d at least like to be able to talk to you about it.”

Andrius can’t hear any movement from behind the door.

“Pl- Please?”

The silent room doesn’t respond.

Andrius sighs, removing his ear from the door. He looks down at the door knob. Placing his hand on it, he feels his innards tie into a knot. He tightly grips the handle, “I’m coming inside, okay?”

The doorknob creaks under the pressure of Andrius’ hand.

Turning the handle, Andrius finds the door locked. He sighs and turns back up towards the door, “I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

He steps away from the inn room. His shoulders tense up as he walks back to his dorm. He’s such an idiot for doing this -- planning sex?! Dumb idiot, of course that would make Hoji nervous. It’s like Andrius forgets Hoji has anxiety.

As he steps on the pressed dirt, he feels angry at himself, staring down at his hooves. Hoji was probably having a panic attack! Why the hell would he want to talk to the guy who caused it?! Andrius’ face turns to a scowl. 

Standing at his dorm door, he takes his keys out of his pocket. They slip through his hand and fall plainly onto the ground. 

Great, can’t even do that right. 

Leaning down, he-

A scream lets out from the tree line. A pained scream. One that sounds as if it has traveled miles from pure effort alone.

Andrius looks up worried. That… That was Hoji!

Andrius groans. Really? That was Hoji? Why the hell would he still be in the woods at this time at night?

Picking up his keys, Andrius-

Another scream. This one sounds choking. Blood spilling out into the sound of it.

Looking up towards his door, the keys weigh heavy in Andrius’ hand. Moving his focus to the treeline, he can’t shake the feeling that the screams are coming from Hoji.

Shoving his keys back in his pocket, Andrius starts walks with urgency in his step into the treeline, “Hoji?!”

Entering the treeline, he can feel branches tear his clothing as he hears another pained scream. 

_That’s Hoji._

Picking up his pace, Andrius screams, “Hoji!”

Andrius quickens his pace to a run, before hearing a short scream ring out. Stopping, Andrius turns in the direction where it came from and sprints, "Hoji!"

Cutting his legs on the thorns of the bushes, Andrius’ legs begin to tire. He’s been running for the past twenty minutes now, and his breath wavers with each step. Stopping, Andrius tries to catch his breath before he hears a more desperate scream -- almost a yelp. Andrius’ tail curls around his thigh, and he sprints towards the source, “Hoji!”

Entering a clearing, Andrius finally sees him.

Hoji is laying on the ground, struggling with a large bear that's paws look as though they were trying to crush his ribcage from pure weight. Hoji is struggling to keep the bear from mauling him, his hands pushing up the bear's neck.

“Nerissa! It’s me! Hoji!” Hoji yells at the large bear, “Please! You know me! Stop- Agh- Stop attacking me!”

The bear raises one of its arms.

"Hoji!" Andrius yells.

Hoji turns to look at him and yells "Andrius?!”


	6. Wounded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pinned down by a bear, Hoji has no other options.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: graphic description of gore/wounds

The bear's arm swings down, its claws gashing open Hoji's abdomen.

A pained scream comes out from Hoji's mouth before his body lays motionless, his eyes struggling to stay open.

Andrius worriedly yells, “Hoji?! Are you okay?!”

Hoji’s eyes slowly close.

The bear turns to Andrius.

Stepping over Hoji’s body, the bear stares into Andrius -- its eyes fill with fury as it stomps towards him.

Andrius yells, " **Stay back!** " uncontrollably casting Thaumaturgy, causing the trees around him to tremble.

The bear staggers for a moment, before continuing its slow approach forward. Its large paws press down the dirt and grass underneath them, leaving an imprint with each step forward.

Once it gets within a few feet of Andrius, the bear stands up and looms above him. 

Andrius takes a step back, not sure what to do. A rock makes him lose his balance, and the next thing he knows is that he’s laying in nearly the same position as Hoji was in.

The bear raises its arm, readying to strike.

Andrius stares up at the large claws of the bear.

_So much for being one of the next royal researchers._

Taking the last few moments before he loses consciousness, he looks towards Hoji. 

Dark crimson blood floods the dirt and grass around Hoji’s motionless body. His shirt stains a dark red as Andrius sees more blood pour outward into the ground.

Andrius feels his throat tighten, “S- Sorry I couldn’t be here sooner...”

Hoji’s eyes snap open. He lifts his arm to his mouth and coughs, before letting it fall back to his side. His breaths are struggling and unsteady, letting out wheezes on the other side of the clearing.

The bear lets out a large roar that forces Andrius to look up.

Andrius feels his breath start to quicken as he looks back up the large bear that is still looming over him.

The bear swings its arm down with all of its force, claws ready to maul into Andrius’ flesh. 

Andrius quickly rolls over on his side, narrowly dodging the thirty pound impact of sharpened daggers.

Suddenly on his hands and knees, Andrius' eyes dart around the forest floor. Did he just do that?!

Before Andrius has time to think, the bear brings its arm up again, readying another strike.

Looking up at the claws, Andrius is quick to rise to his hooves.

The bear throws another full force attack for it to only land in the dirt and grass again.

Andrius sprints towards Hoji. Falling to his knees, Andrius’ torn pants soak in the blood that surrounded Hoji’s limp body. Picking Hoji up, Andrius can feel blood stream down his abdomen and legs. He turns to look at the bear one last time before running into the trees, dodging between branches and bushes that slowed him down. 

As he nears the forest edge, Andrius struggles to hold onto Hoji for any longer. Out of breath, Andrius stops and places Hoji on the ground, checking his pulse. It was slow, but still there. Ripping off his tattered shirt, Andrius presses it down onto Hoji’s wound, letting Hoji’s dark blood seep into the fabric. Hearing Hoji's struggling breaths, he ties his shirt around Hoji, applying pressure onto the large wound as he picks him back up.

***

Loud hoofsteps stomp through the hall. As Jandor sits up in his bed, he hears Andrius yell, "Jandor! I need you to come to my dorm -- now!"

Jandor stands to his feet, “Andrius…?”

Hearing a loud crash coming through the wall, Jandor’s eyes snap wide. Quickly pulling himself out of bed, he runs to his door, “Andrius?!”

Stepping into the hallway, Jandor sees blood flow and drip down through the cracks of the wooden floor, occasionally displaced by hoof prints, leading to Andrius’ kicked down door.

Cautious to look inside, Jandor leans his head into Andrius’ dorm frame. Jandor screams, "Is- Is that Hoji?!"

Andrius looks up from holding down Hoji’s wound, fear in his eyes, "You have healing magic, right?!"

"No! I only study healing magic- I don't-"

" **Get someone who does, then!** " Andrius’ voice booms, cracking the window.

Despite being startled, Jandor runs out of the room.

Turning to look back at Hoji, tears roll down Andrius' face, feeling Hoji’s pulse starting to slow. “H- Hoji…?” Andrius says, feeling his throat swelling.

Hoji’s silence sits loudly in the small dorm room.

Still pushing down on the wound, Andrius leans down, “Please…” 

A few moments later, two pairs of clacking footsteps come down the hall. Jandor and a tall man with bull-like horns run into the room. "Andrius!" the bull-horned man exclaims, "What happened?!"

"Professor Bai! A- A bear-" Andrius forcibly says through sniffles and tears, before yelling, “Can you heal him?!”

Professor Bai quickly pulls out several pieces of parchment and touches Hoji's hand, casting Cure Wounds.

Hoji quickly sits up and gasps for air.

Bringing his hand to his face, he coughs. Although he is still catching his breath, his eyes dart all over the room, eventually landing onto Andrius. “Oh, thank gods!” Hoji yells before wrapping his arm around Andrius and leaning into him, planting his lips on Andrius’ chapped lips.

Andrius' eyes snap open, but slowly close as he tastes the metallic-like taste of Hoji's mouth, letting his hand go through the back of Hoji’s hair. 

The professor clears his throat. 

The two break off. Andrius blushes as he looks towards his window.

"Sorry, professor," Hoji says in a quiet voice, lifting his hand to his upper arm, "I'm- I’m just glad Andrius is okay."

"Why were you worried about me?" Andrius turns to look back at Hoji.

"There was a bear! I- I know you aren't great with combat, so I was worried!"

"You fainted! You would have died if I didn't find you!"

"I was doing fine! I was close to breaking Nerissa out of that curse!"

"Curse?" the professor pipes up.

"Nerissa?" Jandor asks.

Hoji's abdomen stings in pain, and he leans over to cough more. Andrius is quick to put his arm around Hoji to hold him up.

"We'll talk about the curse later," the professor states, "Andrius, I'll let you help tend to Hoji's wounds. I have bandages and alcohol to clean the wound at my home. Hoji, do you think you can walk over there?"

"I- I might," Hoji responds.

The professor leads Hoji and Andrius to a room near the back of his home. Andrius and Hoji enter the room with the professor closing the door behind them. 

A tub and a cot sit silently in the room. Andrius places Hoji to sit on the cot, before looking for the bandages and medicinal alcohol. After finding both rather quickly, he grabs a large sponge and places it next to the tub. Turning the water on, Andrius places the sponge under the cold water from the tap.

Hoji holds his side, stinging pain filling his entire abdomen.

Andrius grabs a chair and sits across from Hoji, placing the sponge in the half-filled tub. Leaning forward, Andrius begins untying his shirt from over Hoji's wound.

Trying his best to ignore the pain, Hoji asks, "So... um… why the black tie?"

"Oh. I... I wanted to look nice," Andrius says calmly as he removes the blood soaked shirt from Hoji’s abdomen and throws it on the ground. "Hoji, I'm going to take off your shirt, okay?" Andrius says as he grabs the bottom of Hoji’s shirt.

Hoji nervously raises his arms up to let Andrius take off his shirt. 

Lifting Hoji’s shirt, for the first time Andrius sees the gratuitous amount of scars that Hoji has all over his chest and abdomen, ranging from the size of a needle to the large fang-like streaks that go from his neck to near the bottom of his abdomen. Andrius’ voice goes rough, "Holy fuck."

"Whoa, not the reaction I was hoping for."

"Oh, sorry- I- well-"

"It's alright, Andrius. I know it's a lot."

Andrius grabs the sponge from the tub, leans down, and places it onto Hoji's wound, "The biggest one, with the fangs, is that from- is that from the divine beast?"

Hoji grunts a little as the wet sponge touches his wound, "Y- Yeah."

Clearing the blood from Hoji's abdomen, Andrius starts seeing Hoji's full wound, "What about- What about the variety of small punctures across your chest?"

"Those were from the two heros, Yumi and Riko."

"They came to fight you?"

"Y- Yeah, it was tough."

"What about the two large puncture wounds here and here?" Andrius pointed at two similarly shaped scars nearby each other.

"It was- It was from an Oni tribe leader."

"Your Oni tribe leader?"

"Oh, no, he would do nothing of the sort. A different tribe leader. She- Uh- She got me good."

With Hoji's wound clearly visible, Andrius drops the sponge into the tub and grabs the bottle of medicinal alcohol from the floor, "This is going to sting a little." Andrius drops a few drops into a small rag.

As Andrius places the alcohol soaked rag onto his wound, Hoji loudly grunts in pain, grabbing Andrius forearm, "That stings a lot!"

"I know. Sorry," Andrius presses the alcohol rag onto Hoji's wound until he completely covers the entire wound with alcohol. After finally putting the alcohol rag aside, Andrius grabs the bandages from the floor. 

Hoji, breathing heavily in order to help lessen the pain, says, "So, why- ow- why medicine?"

"What?"

Hoji winces through gritted teeth, "You're- Ow- You're tending to my wound, and it looks like you know what you're doing."

"Oh, right... I studied it a little while I was still attending the Tenno academy. First aid was a required course," Andrius says calmly as he begins to wrap the bandages around Hoji's abdomen.

"O- Oh," Hoji stutters.

"Yeah," Andrius says as he places gauze over Hoji’s wound. Wrapping the wound with linen bandages, Andrius asks, "Are you feeling any better?"

Hoji clutches at his stomach, "A little."

"I'm guessing you do not have any more spells prepared to heal yourself quicker."

"N- No."

"I'm going to ask the professor if he has a room we can stay in so that you can recover, okay?"

"O- Okay."

Andrius stands up, his tail curled around his leg, with the barbed end of his tail tearing the fabric of his pants, and walks out of the room, leaving Hoji alone.

Hoji sighs loudly before checking the tub of water. The mixture of blood into the water has caused it to become a near dark red. Hoji looks down at the freshly placed bandages on his abdomen and back to the tub of blood and water. Did he really bleed that much? It doesn't feel like it, but then again Hoji has had this experience more than once -- maybe he got used to it. 

Andrius opens the door and walks into the room, "Hoji, the professor and I helped set up a room in his house for you to recover, but it's upstairs. Do you need help up the stairs?"

"Yeah. I- I do."

Andrius walks over and allows Hoji to put an arm around his shoulder for support, and the two of them walk to the prepared room.

Entering the room, Andrius places Hoji on one side of the bed, before saying, "I'm going to get your stuff from the inn, okay? You try to sleep."

Hoji nods and watches Andrius leave the now silent room.

Slowly laying back, Hoji's abdomen stings, and he can feel some of his blood leaking out. After a few minutes, Hoji falls asleep despite the pain.

Hoji's eyes half open as Andrius opens the creaking door. Andrius, now in a new set of clothes, sighs deeply. Walking over and laying on the opposite side of the bed, Andrius puts a hand upon Hoji's shoulder.

Hoji's body shifts and turns over to face Andrius.

"Oh, sorry, did I wake you?" Andrius says as he removes his hand.

"A little," Hoji says in a small voice, before moving himself closer to Andrius.

Andrius, pulling in Hoji to his chest, whispers, "I apologize for that. It's- It's been a stressful night."

Hoji curls his arms around Andrius' waist, "I can imagine."

Andrius rubs Hoji's back, feeling scars that spanned from the top of Hoji's shoulder blades to the bandages at the bottom of his back.

Falling asleep, Andrius clings onto Hoji the best he can.

Hoji, the first to wake up, finds himself clinging onto Andrius. His leg is high on top of Andrius' stomach, and his arm is laying atop of Andrius' chest. Hoji's head lays on Andrius' bicep, with Andrius' hand holding onto Hoji's waist. Hoji stays there for a moment. He feels warm, comfortable, and safe. He wants nothing more than to stay like that for the next few hours. Hoji kisses Andrius' chest and rubs his hand across the soft fabric of Andrius' shirt.

Andrius' eyes slowly open, as he feels Hoji nuzzle into his chest, "H- Hey."

"Hey," Hoji says after making himself comfortable atop Andrius' chest.

Andrius rubs Hoji's back, "I'm glad- I'm glad you're here."

Hoji looks up at Andrius, as he brings his hand to Andrius' chin. Grazing his thumb across Andrius' cheek, he gazes into Andrius' eyes. The pupils are a deep and bright yellow, and Hoji could not resist getting lost in them.

Andrius leans towards Hoji, and their lips gently touch. Breaking away for a moment, Hoji holds the back of Andrius' head and pulls him closer. Their lips meet once again, but now the both of them could taste the faint taste of iron.

Andrius wraps his arm around the nape of Hoji's neck. Hoji moves closer into Andrius until he can feel Andrius' chest slowly rising and falling. Andrius raises his hand to the top of Hoji's back. Feeling Hoji's spine, Andrius pushes Hoji closer into his chest until he can feel Hoji's rough bandages from under his shirt.

Hoji breaks off, grunting in pain, his abdomen stinging a sharp pain.

"Sorry," Andrius says in a small breath, "You're injured. I- I shouldn't have."

"Don't- Don't say that," Hoji whispers.

"But you are injured."

"But- But I love you," Hoji stutters before taking a sharp breath.

"You need to recover, we can- we can think about that later."

"I'm- I'm sorry."

Andrius hugs Hoji, placing his chin on Hoji’s head, "There's no need to be sorry, Hoji."

"B- But I- I made you- you worry about… about me."

Andrius sighs, "And I'm glad you're safe now."

Hoji clutches on Andrius’ shirt, "D- Did you carry me? All the way- All the way to your dorm?"

"Yes…” Andrius pulls Hoji closer.

“Are…” Hoji rubs his cheek against Andrius’ chest, “Are you okay?” 

Andrius frowns, “You’re okay.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“The answer doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.”

“I’m… I’m fine.”

Hoji sighs, “But… You aren’t.”

“I’m… I’m just glad you’re here.”

Hoji stabs his horns into Andrius’ chest, “Andrius…”

Andrius sighs, “I’m… I’m okay.”

“Please stop lying.”

“I-”

The silence cuts Andrius off. Letting out a sharp breath, he pulls Hoji as close as he can.

Desperately wanting to break the silence, he asks, “How- How long were you fighting the bear?" 

“Andrius, that… that isn’t important.”

Andrius frowns, “I need to be okay, Hoji.”

Hoji looks up to Andrius’ eyes, “Says who?”

Andrius turns his eyes away.

Hoji stuffs his face back into Andrius’ chest, “Andrius… I- I made a mistake yesterday… I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault for wanting to help out that bear.”

Hoji’s voice grows quiet, “It’s my fault for not asking for help.”

“Hoji…”

“Andrius, you don’t need to be okay. I’m okay now… Please, be honest.”

Andrius’ voice grows quiet, "I should have... I should have ran over there as soon as I noticed you were late… Instead I took two hours..."

“Andrius, you… you didn’t know I needed help…”

“I should have known…” Andrius sighs, “I should have known since you didn’t arrive on time...”

“Andrius…”

“Instead I sat in front of the restaurant like an idiot for two hours.”

Hoji frowns.

A knock comes on the door, "Andrius, are you and Hoji awake?"

Andrius lifts his head to look towards the door and sighs, "Yes, we are."

The professor responds, "Can you and Hoji meet me downstairs?"

"Of course," Andrius says before turning to Hoji, "Do you think you can walk on your own?"

"Y- Yeah, but I'll do this first," Hoji brings his hand over his bandage and casts Cure Wounds on himself. Although the wound was not fully healed, Hoji feels a little better, "I think my bandages need to be replaced."

"Of course. I'll go grab some from downstairs. All your stuff is in the bag next to the bed. I'll be right back," Andrius says as he gets up.

"Okay, thanks."

Andrius walks out of the room, his tail cutting into the fabric of his pants. 

Hoji sits up, his arms desperately trying to hold himself. Looking at his bag, he takes a deep breath. After pulling his backpack onto the bed, Hoji pulls out a pair of pants and a shirt. Hoji's side still aches as he shifts himself so that his feet touch the cold wooden floor boards. 

As Hoji pulls his pants up to his waist, Andrius opens the door. 

Walking over to Hoji, bandages in hand, Andrius asks, "Feeling any better with clean pants?"

Hoji responds, "Yeah, I guess so."

Andrius kneels in front of Hoji, as he begins to remove his bandages. Hoji's wound looks significantly better. The gash looks almost completely shut. Carefully placing on new bandages, Andrius says, "I talked to the professor a little while I was downstairs. He- He wants to discuss the curse you said was on the bear."

"Oh, okay.”

Andrius finishes wrapping Hoji’s abdomen with the linen bandages and stands up.

Hoji puts on his shirt as Andrius starts walking towards the door.

The professor sits with his legs crossed, and deep in a book when Andrius and Hoji walk into the room. "Ah, there you two are," Professor Bai perks up and puts down his book, "Come sit, let's discuss what we will be doing."

After Hoji and Andrius sit down, the professor clears his throat and begins speaking, "Hoji, you stated last night that a bear had attacked you in the woods last night had a curse."

"That's- That’s right," Hoji says nervously.

"How did you know there was a curse placed on the bear?"

"Well, Nerissa never attacked me before…” Hoji thinks for a moment, “We met two weeks ago, but she never had any sort of aggression towards me whatsoever."

The professor sighs, "So, your assumption is that it is a curse because of an isolated change of behavior."

Hoji looks away, "I- I guess you're right."

"We're going to have to put more research into that, then. If your assumption is correct, we have something much more troubling to worry about, but for now, let's find out if it is a curse or not," the professor pauses for a moment, before stating, "Andrius, I will provide you some scrolls of Cure Wounds, as long as you ensure that Hoji doesn't enter the forest alone, at least for the time being."

"Oh, okay," Andrius says relieved.

"Hoji, I'm guessing your relationship with the forest creatures is quite strong, despite one of them attacking you," the professor continues.

Hoji nods, "Yes, but it's more than just Nerissa attacking me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean- uh- some of the animals- some of them have gone missing. I- I don't know. They may have returned by now, but the ones who were gone, they were often the strongest out of the group, as if they were chosen by someone. I woke up yesterday with the wolves, and two of them were gone, Scarface and Hibiscus. They’re the leaders of the pack, so it’s really unusual for them to both be gone at the same time for so long... I- I also checked on the deer herd yesterday. The strongest one, Anteater, was gone too. It- It was weird...”

"That is odd. You and Andrius should look into that, when you return to the forest tomorrow."

"T- Tomorrow?" Andrius speaks up.

The professor turns to Andrius, "Yes, tomorrow. We are not sure if this ‘curse’ or disappearances are time sensitive, and I don’t want Hoji to go back into the forest still injured. I have already sent Jandor and Lyrica to compile spells and curses that could be affecting our forest creatures. I was going to send you to help assist with that now, in fact."

"Oh," Andrius says in surprise.

Turning towards Hoji, the professor tries to give kind words, "Hoji, I want you to rest. You and Andrius can scout in the forest tomorrow. Take as much food and water as you need, but Andrius and I should be taking our leave now."

Andrius stands up and turns to look at Hoji, "I'll- I'll see you later."

Hoji nods, and the professor and Andrius walk out. 

Time seems to completely slow to a halt as soon as the door closes. Hoji was left alone in a large empty house. Hours pass, and Hoji finds himself looking over the maps within his journal. Entering an entry about the bear, Hoji is forced to reflect on all the shit that went down yesterday and this morning.

Distraught, Hoji writes whatever comes to mind. It is a mess of worry for Nerissa, the disappeared animals, and whatever the future holds for him and Andrius. 

Sighing, Hoji tries to distract himself by drawing Nerissa. He tries to recall what she looked like when she was attacking him. Hoji spends hours on this drawing, until Andrius knocks on the door.

Opening the door, Andrius looks down at Hoji, “Hello.”

Hoji looks up from his drawing, "Oh, hi.”

Andrius places the paper bag and napkins next to Hoji's journal, "I got these for you. I hope you ate already, but well- I saw them and I thought you'd want them."

Hoji takes the small bag and opens it curiously. He gasps as he pulls out one of the cookies. It was a sugar cookie that was in the shape of a frog! It has green frosting with big orange eyes, and Hoji loves them to bits. "Wow! Thank you!" Hoji exclaims as he takes a big bite out of the cookie.

Andrius smiles and sits next to Hoji.

Hoji kisses Andrius on the cheek, placing crumbs into his stubble. After swallowing, Hoji asks, "Did you guys find anything?"

"Well, we found a lot of stuff, but we compiled a variety of books that the curse or spell might be. It's to help us figure out what it is easier. It was- It was pretty boring. I think you might have had a more interesting day."

"No, not really. I mostly just fixed my maps and tried to draw Nerissa."

Andrius looks at Hoji's journal that shows a looming bear with eyes with the intent to kill. Andrius clenches his teeth.

"Oh, sorry, I should have mentioned it's for research purposes, not because I wanted to draw Nerissa as scary..."

"O- Oh, r- right. I think it'll help us narrow down what the curse or spell is. Although, you might want to show it to Jandor or Lyrica," Andrius rubs the back of his neck, "B- But, I- I wanted to know how you're feeling."

"Oh, my wound is feeling much better."

"No, not your wound," Andrius sighs, "You -- I'm wondering about you."

"Huh? Oh, I guess- I guess I'm okay."

"It's- Well- It's just that you almost- you almost died yesterday."

"Yeah, I- I guess I did do that," Hoji's voice grows quiet.

Andrius gives a concerned look, “How… How are you so calm?”

“Huh…? I mean… I have had this experience before…” Hoji laughs nervously, “You… You already saw my scars.”

Andrius frowns, “How… How many scars?”

Hoji shrugs, “A… A lot?”

Andrius places his hand on Hoji, trying his best to understand.

Hoji looks up at him, “Andrius?”

“Yes?”

“Are… Are you okay?”

“I’m… I’m okay,” Andrius takes his hand off of Hoji. Rubbing the nape of his neck, he looks around the empty room.

Hoji presses his hand on Andrius cheek, “Andrius… I know you aren’t… Can you at least tell me what’s wrong?”

Andrius turns back to look at Hoji, “S- Sorry…” Andrius sighs, “A lot happened last night. I- I don't know what to say to you now… I’m… I’m just glad you’re safe, b- but… I… I wish I could have helped you sooner than I did."

"Andrius, you didn't know... I- I should have been the one to ask for help."

"But- But you needed some alone time…” Andrius pulls his hand away, “I- I scared you..."

Hoji frowns, "Is- Is this about the day in the forest?"

Andrius looks down ashamed, "I- I don’t want to hurt you..."

“Andrius…” Hoji looks down at Andrius’ hand. Gripping it again, Hoji looks up at him.

Andrius lets Hoji squeeze his hand, but doesn’t return the gesture, “Sorry...”

A few moments of awkward silence pass. 

Hoji breaks the silence, “That’s it!” Standing up, he lets go of Andrius’ hand, “Andrius?!”

Andrius looks up at Hoji, "Y- Yes?"

"I- I can't take it, Andrius! You're- You're just-" Hoji pulls off his shirt, "Look! Look at my bandages! Can't you- Can't you see that I- I- You-"

"Wh-."

Hoji huffs in frustration, "You saved me! Don't- Don't you get that?! You- You came to my aid when I didn't even know I needed it! I'm thankful for that! I've been through a lot! I get nervous a lot! And I love you a lot!"

"Hoji, where- where is this going?"

"I don't know! I'm angry! I don't want you to think I’m afraid of you!”

Andrius sits there awkwardly, “Hoji, I… I understand that you aren’t but-”

Hoji cuts him off, "Andrius! I'm scared of sex! There -- I said it!”

"You're what?! Is that what we're talking about?!"

"Yes! This is what we’re talking about! It's been bothering me for days now!"

"I- I mean… It’s been bothering me too," Andrius brings his hand to the nape of his neck, “B- But I don’t this is a good time-”

Hoji cuts him off again, “When’s a better time?!”

“I- I…”

Hoji’s hands curl into fists, "Take off your pants!"

" _Wh- What?!_ "

"I've had it! If we have sex now, we'll both be able to focus! I- I care a lot about you, Andrius! And if- if we do this now, I think we'll both get over this awkwardness we have! We planned on doing it yesterday so that we could, remember?!"

"I- I remember."

"Good! Now, take off your pants!"

"Hoji, I-"

Hoji groans and moves over to the bed, placing his stomach face down into the pillows, before turning over and yelling, "Don't 'Hoji' me right now!"

Andrius walks over to the bed, standing over Hoji's tense body. Putting his hand on Hoji's back, Andrius sits down next to him, "I- I understand that things- that we- we're a little awkward right now, but Hoji, I don't think this is the solution."

"Then what is?!" Hoji’s voice is muffled between the pillows.

"I- I don't know. You're still injured. I don't want to cause any more pain than what you have right now. I think it would be better, if… if we just talked."

Hoji wraps his arms around a pillow and stuffs his face into it.

Andrius sighs, "I care a lot about you, Hoji. I- I don't think I could ever get my head around the idea that you faint from injuries like that often enough for you to get used to it, and… and I hope you can bring yourself to understand that."

Hoji listens as he curls up into a ball on the bed.

"I do want to have sex with you, Hoji. It’s… It’s just that I’m still trying to recover from yesterday too…” Andrius looks down at Hoji, "What- What I felt last night -- that fear -- that worry -- even now, it feels overwhelming.”

Hoji turns his head to look up at Andrius, but doesn’t meet his eyes.

“I… I love you, Hoji,” Andrius brings his hand to his chest, “Seeing you like that… I… I can’t… I can’t imagine making it worse.”

Hoji sits up, “Like I said, I’m okay.”

Andrius turns to look at Hoji, and a tear rolls down his face, “You’re… You’re still injured.”

Hoji sighs, “I am.”

Andrius turns away, “I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t go after you sooner…”

Hoji frowns, “You… You didn’t know…”

“But I should have known…”

“It’s… It’s my fault for not asking for help… Please… Don’t blame yourself…”

“You wouldn’t have that injury if I came sooner…”

Hoji pulls himself away, “Andrius.”

Andrius sniffles, his face covered in his tears.

Hoji looks down for a moment before looking into Andrius’ eyes, “I… I would have died if you didn’t come.”

“Please don’t say that…”

“I’m… I’m really glad that you saved me,” Hoji tightens his grip on Andrius’ shirt, “I… I just want you to feel as glad as I am that I’m still alive…”

Andrius brings his hand to his face. Pushing up his glasses to wipe away tears, he looks into Hoji’s eyes, “I am glad… b- but-”

Hoji cuts him off, “But nothing, we’re both happy that I’m alive, yeah?”

Andrius sighs, “You’re… You’re right…”

“I love you Andrius… I don’t want to see you sad when I’m so thankful for you…”

Andrius sniffles, wrapping his arms around Hoji, “I’m so happy that you’re okay…”

Hoji pulls Andrius close, letting him cry into his shoulder


	7. The Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanting to know more about why the bear had attacked Hoji, he and Andrius head to the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: description of gore/wounds

The morning sun shines through the window of the professor’s home. Quietly sitting there, the professor finds himself reading the various compiled sources on his dining table.

Hearing footsteps as Hoji and Andrius step downstairs, the professor looks up, "Oh, you two are up early… Thought you two stayed up a while after all that yelling last night."

"Oh, did you hear that?" Andrius laughs nervously.

"It most certainly kept me from reading."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Andrius apologizes, "Sorry, professor."

"I did not hear the contents of what you two were arguing about, if you were worried about that."

Hoji lets out a large sigh of relief, "Oh, thank gods."

The professor narrows his eyes at Hoji, "I don't especially enjoy hearing that, but I will not push the topic."

Hoji blushes, "S- Sorry, professor."

"You two will be going out today?" the professor asks.

"That is correct, I'll be bringing my notebook to take extensive notes of the behavior of each of the animals, and in the event one of them attacks us, me and Hoji are to return here immediately,” Andrius says as he practiced, “Do you have the Cure Wounds scrolls?"

"Yes," the professor points to the several scrolls in front of him, "Use them wisely. I took a long while making them yesterday, and I will not see that they go to waste."

"Of course, professor," Andrius says as he grabs the scrolls and places them carefully into his bag.

"Hoji, you fully healed yourself this morning?" the professor turns to look at Hoji.

"Yes, I- I have," Hoji responds.

"Good, I wish you two luck on finding more information on this curse," the professor returns back to compiling sources.

Hoji and Andrius leave out the front door and begin walking to the forest, with Hoji's maps to guide them.

"I want to go check on some of the other animals, before we check on Nerissa, is that alright?" Hoji says as the two of them walk on the unbeaten path.

"Of course, we need a comparison to other animals' behavior to confirm something is different to the cursed ones," Andrius says matter-of-factly.

"Okay, first," Hoji turns to a bookmarked page in his journal, "Dandelion!"

"Dandelion?"

"Yeah, Dandelion! She's great. I think she'll really like you, well as long as you don't keep your meat rations to yourself."

"M- Meat rations?"

"Yeah, she really enjoys the beef rations,” Hoji smiles, “I hope you brought some.”

"Hoji, what kind of animal is Dandelion?"

"Oh, how about you find out for yourself?!" Hoji turns and gestures to a large opening in the trees. 

In the middle of the clearing lay a large gryphon surrounding a small nest with three sleeping baby gryphons inside. Hoji smiles, and he skips over to the gryphon's large body. He speaks in sylvan before completely dropping himself into the gryphon's feathers.

The gryphon's eyes shoot daggers into Andrius.

Andrius hesitantly steps out of the trees, "That's Dandelion?!"

"Yeah! Isn't she cute?!" Hoji stuffs his face into the large gryphon’s feathers. Once Hoji notices Dandelion staring at Andrius, he scratches Dandelion's neck before speaking in sylvan some more. 

The gryphon stands up, leaving Hoji to sit next to the cubs. She stands as tall as Hoji's standing height, even when on all fours. 

Hoji yells, "Stand still!" in Andrius' direction.

Andrius stands as still as he could, despite him feeling his legs tremble as the gryphon approaches.

Dandelion slowly approaches Andrius until she gets within pecking distance. For a moment, they stare at each other.

"Don't act scared!" Hoji yells from the comfort of being behind the gryphon.

"How do I do that?!" Andrius yells back.

The gryphon walks around Andrius, as if to inspect him. 

Andrius' tail tightly grips onto his thigh, as the gryphon walks around behind him. His hands quickly squeeze into fists, and his legs straighten. He breathes heavily as the gryphon escapes his peripheral vision. 

Dandelion nudges Andrius forward with her beak, as if to say walk forward. However, the strength of her neck pushes Andrius a large step forward, nearly knocking him down. Walking back in front of him, Dandelion calmly approaches her nest and lays down next to Hoji.

Hoji grabs her by her beak and nuzzles his head into her feathers, "See? Nothing to worry about."

Andrius hesitantly walks forward, but Dandelion looks a lot more relaxed, making Andrius feel a little more confident to step forward. Eventually he gets to Hoji's spot next to the nest. 

Hoji with a big smile exclaims, "I think she likes you!"

"What- What did you say to her?"

"Huh? Oh, I told her that you were- uh- you were my mate."

"M- Mate?!" Andrius blushes.

"Well, yeah, how else am I going to convince animals that you're not going to hurt you?"

"I- I guess you're right," Andrius sits down next to Hoji, "Wh- Why did she- Why did she come over to me and- and do that?"

"Oh, I think uh- I think that might be a Dandelion thing. From the looks of it, her mate died or left her, so she wanted to ensure that you were safe by checking your scent."

"My- My scent?"

"Yeah, we- we cuddled last night, remember? My scent is all over you. She wanted to make sure you really were my mate," Hoji says as he brings his arms to Dandelion's wing. He gently brings it down so that her wing is on his lap.

After a few seconds, Andrius realizes that the gryphon's wing is misshaped, "Whoa, what happened?"

Hoji begins to massage the wing that’s feathers completely cover his torso as it pushes up against him, "Oh, I don't know. I found her like this a few weeks ago. I did the best I could to straighten it, but I couldn't perfectly do it. However, she can still fly, which is vital for a gryphon, but I think she still has some aching pain from doing so."

“Oh… So you’ve been helping her out?”

“Yeah, I’ve been massaging her wings for… well, I guess whenever I came to Kutabe again.”

“I see,” Andrius pulls out his notebook and pen and begins taking notes as Hoji speaks, "And, how old are the baby gryphons?"

"Oh, they're only a few months old. They can stand on their own, but still need their food chewed up for them."

Andrius nods, "How often do you come to see Dandelion?"

Hoji thinks for a moment, "Every day I'm available, I guess. I saw her the same day that Nerissa attacked me. Her behavior hasn't changed since then."

"That's good to hear," Andrius puts his notebook down, "How- How did you- uh- How did you befriend her?"

"She sought me out. I do not know how she broke her wing, but I clearly remember her seeing me and approaching for help."

"Isn't that- Isn't that a little unnatural? For a gryphon to seek out the help of a half-oni, I mean."

Hoji thinks for a moment, "No, not necessarily. A lot of gryphons usually communicate with each other about people they've seen. I used to watch over a pride of them nearby my old tribe, so she might have heard about me."

"Gryphons can remember faces by just describing them to one another?"

"I mean that must be the case. I have had many encounters with gryphons over the past few years, and all of them have been extremely accepting of my help."

Andrius opens his notebook and quickly takes note of Hoji's words.

Hoji pats one of the young gryphons before standing up. He stretches as he says, "Andrius, I think it's time to continue."

"Of course," Andrius stands up.

The two step away from the gryphon's nest and make haste towards another clearing in the forest. Looking over Hoji's shoulder, Andrius notices the map has several locations with circles, opposed to just one.

Hoji confronts the map and the trees around him and says quietly to himself, "If we're here then-" He mumbles to himself for a bit.

Andrius is able to look around for a moment. They are in the heart of the forest where the trees grew close to one another. Hoji and Andrius got to this location without a path or clear distinction between trees. How does Hoji do it?

Hoji listens to the quiet forest sounds. He barely hears in the distance a rustling sound coming from some bushes a little far away. Hoji perks up at the sound and turns to face it. He looks down at his map and back to the origin of the sound and nods his head, "Alright, I think they're over there. Andrius, I'm going to need you to stay close to me." Hoji says in a low whisper before offering a hand.

"Uh- Alright," Andrius awkwardly says as he grabs onto Hoji's hand.

Hoji leads Andrius to a large herd of deer. The older and larger deer do not bat an eye when they walk up. However, as soon as Hoji enters the clearing, Hopper, a young doe, runs up to Hoji, placing her head onto his chest. Hoji smiles as he pets Hopper.

After a few moments of jumping around, Hopper turns to Andrius.

"I'll be checking over all the deer," Hoji lets go of Andrius' hand, "Hopper will sniff you a bit, but she's harmless."

Hopper is quick to sniff Andrius' newly freed hand. After confirming that it was indeed Hoji's scent, she begins to hop around Andrius.

"Wh-" Andrius stands still unsure what to do.

Hoji chuckles, "I think she wants to play with you."

"H- How do I do that?"

"Run around with her! The deer saw you come here with me, so they won't mind."

Hopper hops around excitedly, waiting for Andrius to make the first move.

Andrius places his bag onto the ground, before locking eyes with the young doe. 

She looks back at Andrius curiously, trying her best to look into Andrius’ eyes.

Andrius enters a pounce-like stance, before locking his eyes with her’s. Pretending to pounce her, Andrius starts running around the small clearing, chasing her around the trees. 

They dodge and weave through trees, but Hopper is much better at it than Andrius is.

Andrius trips over a root, ruining his white shirt, but he gets back up to find Hopper running towards him.

Hoji takes the occasional glance to see what the two are up to. Hoji snickers when he sees Hopper try to tackle Andrius and succeeds, knocking Andrius over into the dirt.

Not after too long, Hoji is done checking over all the bucks and does and walks over to Hopper and Andrius. Hoji says, "They all are uninjured, but there's still a missing buck."

Andrius lets go of Hopper's head and echoes, "Missing buck?"

"Yeah, Anteater. He wasn't here two days ago either. He was the leader of the herd, which is why it's so strange that he's gone."

"That does seem a little odd. Do you think it has anything to do with the curse?"

"I- I don't know, but it seems so out of place for Anteater to leave his herd like that. I wouldn't not place it related to the curse."

Andrius thinks for a moment, "Alright, I'll keep that in mind." 

As Andrius stands up to grab his bag, Hoji speaks to Hopper in sylvan, and Hopper pouts in response.

The two walk away. Finally, Hoji and Andrius are going to check on Nerissa, the cursed bear. Hoji doubts that they would find her in her cave, but it is somewhere to start, nonetheless.

Andrius and Hoji walk up to the mouth of the cave. 

Nerissa is nowhere to be found, and the reminder that she could be getting hurt more made Hoji a hole form in his stomach. "This is… This is where Nerissa usually is," Hoji says as he sighs loudly.

Andrius is quick to start investigating the grounds. The cave is most definitely empty, so Andrius begins searching for footprints. There is nothing too unusual, most of the footprints are bear tracks and presumably Hoji's.

Hoji kicks the dirt, staring down at his shoes with his mind elsewhere.

Andrius, after walking around for a few minutes notices something unusual near where the dirt becomes a thick mud. He calls Hoji over, "Hey! There's something here."

Hoji reluctantly walks over to look down at the mud, “Oh, is that a hoof print?”

“Yeah,” Andrius looks down, “Can you identify it?”

After examining it for a little while, Hoji asks, "Andrius do you mind placing your hoof print next to the hoof print?"

"Uh- Sure," Andrius says and does so.

The hoof print in the mud and Andrius' fresh hoof print looked almost nearly identical. The hoof print in the mud was slightly larger, but has the same pattern and way of stepping into the mud. Hoji nods, "It's a ram's hoof print."

"Why- Why would a ram be near a bear den?"

Hoji thinks a little, "Yeah, that's what I'm wondering too. Plus, there's no- there's no rams in this area."

"What?"

"Yeah, I’ve- I've never seen a ram in these woods. I doubt they'd be here anyway, unless it was- uh- a ram from town, but a ram from town would die almost immediately. I mean... I guess satyrs, if there's any here, but I would have seen them by now."

"Hoji, I don't want to be the one to say it, but- but I don't think this is any regular ram hoof print."

"What? What do you mean?"

"It's- It's bigger than my hoof print. If it were a satyr or a ram, wouldn't their print be smaller than mine?"

"Oh," Hoji brings his hand to his upper arm, "I guess it would- I guess it would be smaller."

Andrius turns to look at Hoji in worry.

Hoji's stomach turns, "M- Maybe we should head back."

"Y- Yeah," Andrius says before quickly turning towards the way they came. 

Hoji hangs behind for a moment. He stares at the hoof print. The possibilities of what type of creature could leave such a large hoof print from swirl around in his mind. It must have been a larger tiefling, right? What purpose would they have for controlling animals? What were they doing to the poor babies?! They don't deserve to be cursed like that!

Andrius grabs Hoji's shoulder, "Hoji, come on. We have to go. It's- It's twilight."

"R- Right."

Hoji is clearly distressed over the animals, and Andrius wants to help in any way he could. Sadly, the best he can do is hold Hoji's hand reassuringly until they get back to town. 

As they enter the professor's home, they find the professor sitting on his couch reading his book. "Oh good, you two have returned," he shuts his book, "Did you find any new information?"

"No, the animals that were gone are still gone, and Nerissa is nowhere to be seen. All we found was a hoof print," Hoji says nervously.

"Hoof print? Why do you mention that?"

"It- It was in a weird location. It was next to Nerissa's den. It seems like a strange place for a ram or satyr to be. We compared it to Andrius' hoof print and found that it was larger than his hoof print, so it can't be any smaller than him," Hoji begins to soften his words, "I- I worry it might be a tiefling."

Andrius’ shoulder tense up.

"A tiefling?" the professor echoes.

"Y- Yeah, since it's bigger than Andrius' hoof print, they must be larger than Andrius. There's- There's no other explanation."

The professor hums in thought, "It is indeed a possibility."

Hoji chimes, "Is there- Is there a possibility me and Andrius could go into the forest tomorrow? I still have a few more animals I need to check on, and-"

"Will it benefit our research?"

"Um- Possibly. If some of the animals that were missing come back, then we might gain some information about the curse."

The professor puts his hand to his chin, "Considering that we have not gained any new information yet, it would be a good plan." He stands up and begins walking upstairs.

"Wait, professor."

"Yes, Hoji?"

"Th- Thanks for letting me stay."

"Of course," the professor says as he walks up the stairs.

Andrius sighs, "I- I should be heading to my dorm."

Hoji looks at Andrius confused, "Your dorm?"

"Yeah, I mean... I feel like I'm over-welcoming my stay if I sleep here."

"Well, can I- can I stay with you then?"

"What? In my tiny bed?"

"That's- That's fine."

"Hoji," Andrius’ eyes lock with Hoji's, "Why?"

"It's- It's pretty important that you keep your scent on me."

"I- I mean I guess... If it helps with what we're doing, then I guess you can stay over. But I- I don't think you're gonna be very comfortable."

"O- Oh, that's alright. I’ll- I'll go get my stuff."

"Okay."

Hoji casually walks up the stairs, leaving Andrius alone for a moment. 

Andrius sits down in one of the dining chairs. Looking down at the professor’s notes, he finds himself thinking about what Hoji said earlier. If it is a tiefling that is doing all this, then why are they doing this? Why try to hurt the forest like that? What’s the purpose of taking away animals and controlling them? Andrius sits there dumbfounded by the questions he presents to himself and hopes that he and Hoji might be able to find something -- anything -- to help him grasp an understanding of what is going on tomorrow.

It is not before too long that Hoji returns, finding Andrius looking distraught. "Hey?" Hoji says, hoping to snap Andrius out of his daze.

Andrius looks at Hoji, "Oh, let's get going then." Without a second thought, Andrius begins walking toward the door.

Hoji worriedly follows Andrius until the both of them reach the dorm room.

Andrius is mostly silent on the way there, and now, even though they are both in the room together, he does not speak up. 

Hoji has to break the silence, "Andrius?"

"Yes?"

"Are- Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, just checking," Hoji sits on Andrius' bed.

Andrius places down his bag and begins rummaging through his closet. Once he finds proper nightwear, he looks back at Hoji, "I'm- I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Alright."

As Andrius walks out, Hoji notices that Andrius' tail is calmly swinging behind him. Once Andrius left, Hoji sighs in relief, knowing that Andrius is truly fine. Hoji lays down on Andrius' bed and curls under the covers until he takes as little space as possible. His back is against the wall, and his limbs are as close to his chest as they could be.

Andrius walks into the dorm in his night clothes and looks down at his bed, "Hoji?"

Hoji has already fallen asleep.

Andrius sighs and taps Hoji's shoulder.

Hoji's eyes stay shut but his mouth moves, "Yeah?"

"You're taking up my whole bed."

Hoji's eyes flutter open, "O- Oh," and he sits up.

Andrius sighs and takes this opportunity to get under the covers next to Hoji.

Hoji, without thinking, lays himself right on top of Andrius, despite Andrius being practically on the edge of the bed.

"Hoji, I'm going to move to the middle of the bed now."

Hoji mumbles an understanding.

Andrius manages to move himself to the center of his bed with Hoji's torso completely on top of him. Finally feeling comfortable, he put an arm around Hoji's back.

Hoji shifts himself so that his head is laid on Andrius' chest. His legs were on top of Andrius', and his arm held onto Andrius' shoulder. He mumbles, “I love you.”

Andrius wraps his arms around Hoji and replies, “I love you too.”

Andrius wakes up in his bed with Hoji laying on top of him. Hoji's hair is soft on Andrius' chest, and he leans forwards to give Hoji a kiss on the forehead.

Hoji wakes up, letting his eyes slowly open to look up at Andrius.

Andrius leans in to kiss Hoji's lips.

Hoji wraps his arm around Andrius' neck as he feels Andrius' warm breath on his lips.

Pulling away, Andrius smiles, "Good morning."

"Not yet," Hoji places his head back onto Andrius' chest.

Andrius leans down and kisses Hoji’s ear.

Feeling Andrius’ lips on his ear, Hoji laughs, "Hey, that tickles."

"Oh, what are you going to stop me?" Andrius gives more kisses.

Hoji laughs before sitting up, placing his hand onto Andrius’ face, "Stop stop!"

Andrius sits up, hugs Hoji's chest, and continues kissing him, "I'm not going to!"

Leaning into Andrius, Hoji kisses his bottom lip.

Andrius tastes Hoji's bitter saliva as he leans in.

Hoji pulls away, "We should start heading out."

"Right, but can we have some coffee first?"

"Of course," Hoji says as he climbs off the bed.

Andrius stands up and follows Hoji out of the door.

Hoji grabs Andrius hand and leans into his shoulder as they walk towards the cafe, "Strawberry latte?"

"Black coffee?"

Hoji snickers, "Yeah."

"What time do you want to leave for the forest?"

"The afternoon. I have some stuff to do before we head out."

"Alright."

Hoji and Andrius step into the cafe and order their coffee, as they joyfully chat about anything other than the missing animals and the curse.

After he finishes his coffee, Hoji stands up, "I see you at the professor's house later today, okay?"

Andrius smiles, "Okay, I'll see you later."

Hoji waves bye, as he leaves the cafe leaving Andrius to sit there.

Andrius finishes his latte before standing up and walking to the library.

As he steps in, Andrius sees Jandor and Lyrica doing their usual bickering behind the counter.

"I told you, there is no way a tiefling could have done it," Lyrica states.

"Yeah, say that to what Hoji told us. We need to be careful," Jandor warns.

"Since when have you been giving me advice?"

"Since there is a possibility that Andrius-" Jandor stops, "Oh, um- hey."

"Hey, what were you two talking about?" Andrius asks.

"Oh," Jandor laughs nervously, "Nothing, nothing at all. We weren't even talking, isn't that right Lyrica?"

Lyrica scowls at Jandor, "What? Jandor, I swear-"

Jandor cuts Lyrica off by placing his hand on top of Lyrica's mouth and laughs nervously, “Yeah! Noth- Youch!”

Lyrica bites Jandor's hand with sharp canines, and he quickly pulls his bleeding hand away, before Lyrica yells, "Don't you fucking dare!" Quickly turning to Andrius, she shouts, "Andrius!"

"What- What's going on?" Andrius asks.

"I'm worried about you! Are you okay?"

"Um- Yes?"

Lyrica gives him a worried look, "Is there anything you need? Do you want some food? Water?"

"No? I feel fine. Me and Hoji just came back from the cafe."

Lyrica looks down in shame, "So he didn't tell you."

"Who didn't tell me what?"

"Hoji. He didn't tell you-" Lyrica sighs, "You should go ask him about it."

"What? No, tell me."

"I can't. It's- It's not my place," Lyrica turns around.

Jandor reaches over to pat Lyrica's back.

Andrius looks to Jandor for answers, but Jandor turns away.

"I'm sorry," Jandor says, before returning back to Lyrica’s aid.

Andrius looks down at his hooves and sighs. As he steps towards the door, he feels his stomach drop. Standing at the doorway, he turns back to look at Lyrica and Jandor.

Bringing his gaze back to the floor, Andrius steps outside. He puts his hands in his pockets as he feels his shoulders tense up.

Did Hoji not tell him something? Is there something wrong? What happened? Did something happen?

Stepping into the professor's home, Andrius' stare sticks to the floor.

The professor looks up at Andrius confused, "Andrius?"

"Professor?"

"I thought you already left with Hoji."

"What?"

"That's what he told me earlier."

"Huh? Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. He just said that he decided to leave earlier than usual and grabbed several Cure Wounds scrolls."

“What?!”

“I thought he left with you! He said he was leaving with you!”

"You mean... You mean he's in the forest right now -- alone?!"

The professor stands up, "Is he?!"

Andrius rushes out of the door, "Hoji?!"

Turning towards the trees, he starts running towards the forest.

Entering the trees, Andrius' eyes dart looking for a path. He runs, trying his best to weave and dodge branches and leaves. Huffing in the cold forest air, Andrius calls, "Hoji!"

Andrius enters a clearing. The warm afternoon sunlight turns into cold white moonlight, as he finds himself standing in front of a familiar scene. 

A bear is slowly approaching Hoji. It stands up, twice Hoji's size, looming over him. Pulling its arm up, Hoji raises his hands defensively.

"Nerissa! Listen to me! Please!" Hoji yells.

"Hoji!" Andrius yells as he starts running towards him.

Hoji turns towards Andrius, "Andrius! Don't come close!"

The bear forcefully brings its arm down, slashing open Hoji's chest.

Hoji yells in pain as he feels his ribs crunch underneath the bear's claws.

Andrius runs over to Hoji, "No! Hoji!"

Dark crimson blood flows down Hoji’s torso. Hoji falls to his knees as his mouth gushes out deep red. His body collapses onto the ground.

Andrius leans over Hoji and picks him up, “Hoji!”

Andrius sits up in his bed in a cold sweat. Looking around his room, Hoji is nowhere to be found. "Hoji?!" he yells.


	8. Hoji!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a nightmare, Andrius finds himself desperately trying to find Hoji again.

Andrius stands up and runs to his door, his hooves clacking against the hardwood floor. He slams open his door, "Hoji?!"

"Andrius!" Hoji yells back, seeing Andrius' distressed face. Hoji is holding two cups in his hands and worriedly says, "What's wrong?!"

"Hoji! Oh, thank gods!" Andrius immediately walks over and attempts to hug Hoji.

Hoji very carefully puts his chin on Andrius' shoulder as he embraces him, "Is everything alright?"

Letting go of Hoji, Andrius puts his hand on the nape of his neck, "S- Sorry, I- I had a nightmare."

Hoji sympathetically looks up at Andrius, "Oh, uh- are you okay?"

"Y- Yeah. I- I just wanted to see you."

"Uh- O- Okay, I brought- um- I brought you a strawberry latte," Hoji says as he hands Andrius one on the cups.

"Oh, uh- thanks," Andrius says as he accepts the cup.

"I want to leave as soon as you're ready. I'll be at the professor's house, okay?"

"Okay, I'll- I'll see you there."

"Alright, see you there," Hoji says as he walks away through the hallway.

Walking towards the professor's house, Hoji's mind wanders. Andrius looked really shaken up, but Hoji thinks best to leave it be. Andrius has been through enough in the past three days, and if he brings it up, he fears that Andrius might not be able to come into the forest with him today.

Hoji enters the professor's house with a worried look on his face.

"Hoji?" the professor looks up from his writing, "Did you and Andrius-"

"Professor, do you really need to ask?" Jandor cuts the professor off without looking up.

The professor looks over to Jandor and back to Hoji, whose face is now tinted pink. The professor sighs, "I supposed I don't need to ask." He pauses for a moment before speaking again, "Hoji, you spoke of a hoof print yesterday, do you possibly have a sketch of it?"

"Oh, y- yeah I do," Hoji rummages through his bag. After a few moments, he pulls out his yellow notebook and flips to the page with a sketch he made today. The sketch has the muddy hoof print and Andrius' hoof print next to it for comparison. 

"I suppose me and Jandor can look into hoofed creatures that might be that size. However, if you two encounter whatever or whoever the hoof print was left by, return here immediately. It is not safe for you two to be fighting."

"Yes, professor."

"Anyway, Hoji, could you help write a few more Cure Wounds scrolls with us? Although I may know the spell, I believe it will be much easier for you to create them."

"Oh sure, but I want to leave as soon as Andrius comes."

"Of course," the professor goes back to writing onto the parchment.

Hoji sits down and helps create as many scrolls as they could until Andrius came. 

The professor sends Jandor to the library to research hoof prints, as he and Hoji continue to make scrolls. After ten minutes, the door opens.

Andrius steps through the door, "Oh, good morning, professor."

The professor looks up at Andrius, "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

"Oh, uh- sure."

The professor could hear the tone of Andrius' voice raise an octave but decides it was best not to question his lying now. They need to continue on. If they don't find out what is happening to the forest creatures, there's a possibility that something much worse will happen. "Good," the professor says as nicely as possible, "We have made a few more Cure Wounds scrolls for you and Hoji today. Please, use them wisely."

Hoji picks up the scrolls, stands up, and hands them to Andrius, "You ready to go?"

"Y- Yeah," Andrius says, noticing the threatening sounds of the professor's words.

"Alright, let's go," Hoji says, walking out of the door.

The professor's anger shows through his eyes, and Andrius could feel the professor's disappointment deep in his stomach. 

Andrius thinks about saying something, but Hoji is already out the door. Slowly walking out, Andrius' tail begins to curl around his thigh. 

Andrius meekly follows as he and Hoji quickly walk into the treeline. He is much more worried about what the professor is thinking more than paying attention to what is in front of him. Stepping in mud and letting thorns graze his pants, he tries his best to focus on Hoji’s movements.

Hoji is walking in front of him, and his steps pat down the dirt with intent.

Andrius watches Hoji’s movements. His shoulders swing with a confidence that Andrius isn’t used to seeing from Hoji. It calms Andrius a little, reassuring him that things are okay. 

Hoji’s eyes dart around the sky as if he is looking for something.

Trying to track his eye movements, Andrius notices that no wind is flowing through the leaves. Finally speaking up, Andrius asks, "What are you-"

Hoji quickly shushes Andrius. As he turns towards the trees, his eyes dart around the treetops.

Andrius nervously stands there, not knowing what to do.

After a few moments of silence, Hoji brings both of his hands to his mouth. He whistles loudly, loud enough to sting Andrius' ears. Bringing his hands down, Hoji's eyes search through the top of the leaves.

"Wh- What was that for?!" Andrius whispers.

Hoji does not look back towards Andrius. Hoji's eyes are locked onto something above the trees. 

Andrius tries to look towards the trees that Hoji is looking at but sees nothing, "Wh-"

"Hold on a second, Andrius," Hoji cuts him off.

A large owl emerges through the trees where Hoji is looking. Its large claws swooping down towards Hoji.

Hoji pulls his forearm up for the owl to land. Hoji's grunts at the sudden pain at the sight of his bleeding arm, but his face looks relieved. He mumbles to himself, "Oh, thank gods."

Andrius' face is in shock. It shouldn't be a surprise that Hoji has befriended an owl, but Andrius feels worried looking at Hoji's bleeding arm, “Are you okay?”

Hoji stuffs his face into the feathers of the large owl, and the owl makes a joyful clicking sound. He looks up at Andrius, "Oh, sorry. Yeah, I’m fine. I should have told you what I was doing. I was just worried about Rose. I thought I wouldn't be able to check on her."

"Oh, I- I see," Andrius slowly approaches Hoji and the owl.

Hoji moves the owl towards Andrius, "Want to pet her? She really likes it when you pet her right here." Hoji scratches the neck of the large bird, and she makes a clicking sound.

Andrius is a little hesitant, "Does- Does she bite?"

"She won't bite you!" Hoji laughs, before putting his other arm into his bag.

Once Andrius reaches his hand out and lightly pet the owl, Rose clacks her beak together. Andrius quickly pulls his hand back.

Hoji takes out a small piece of dried meat from his bag and holds it in front of Rose's mouth. "Andrius, don't worry, she's only going to eat something smaller than her. Look," Hoji says as he lets Rose pick up the small piece of dried meat from his hand.

Rose picks it up and lifts her head so that it can eat the meat in one gulp. Once she swallows the meat, she looks straight towards Andrius and clacks her beak again.

Hoji pulls out another piece of dried meat and hands it to Andrius, "Here, she'll like you more if you feed her."

Andrius accepts the small piece of meat as Rose carefully watches the meat move from Hoji's hand to Andrius'. Andrius cautiously opens his hand with the piece of meat in front of Rose's beak.

Rose happily accepts the small meat from Andrius' hand and lifts her head to gulp the meat.

Andrius, still cautious, reaches out his hand to touch Rose's neck.

Rose leans into Andrius' hand, forcing his fingers into her neck feathers.

Hoji snickers at Andrius, "Sorry, it's just that you look so scared."

"I am scared!" Andrius yells, keeping his eyes locked on Rose.

Rose joyfully clacks her beak together.

"Look! She likes you!" Hoji laughs.

"She- She does?"

Hoji snickers again, "Of course she does. Just don't get on her bad side."

"Her bad side?!"

Hoji giggles, "Sorry, I shouldn't scare you like that. Just don't harm her, and you'll be fine."

Andrius starts to scratch Rose's neck. She clacks her beak joyfully, and Andrius starts to become a little more comfortable, although Hoji is still trying to hold in his snickering.

Hoji places his nose into Rose’s neck feathers. He joyfully giggles.

Andrius blushes looking at Hoji’s smile, before placing his whole palm into Rose’s neck feathers. They are soft to the touch, and Rose joyfully clacks her beak together. However, Andrius is much more focused on Hoji’s kind smile as he stuffs his face into the soft feathers.

Hoji looks up at Andrius and smiles, “See! She loves you!”

Andrius blushes and brings his hand to Hoji’s chin.

Hoji rubs his cheek onto Andrius’ palm. “You’re almost as soft as her feathers,” Hoji laughs.

Andrius smiles, “You’re so cute.”

“Oh, stop. Not in front of Rose,” Hoji laughs, before kissing Andrius’ palm, “You sure you’re okay from your nightmare last night?”

“Yeah,” Andrius brings his other hand to rub the back of Hoji’s ear, “I just missed you is all.”

“Oh, well I’m here now,” Hoji says before leaning up into Andrius, kissing him.

Andrius gets lost in Hoji’s bitter tasting lips and lifts his hand to comb through the back of Hoji’s hair.

Suddenly, Hoji breaks off and turns his head with a fearful look on his face into the trees.

Andrius looks down at him worriedly, "Hoji?"

Hoji moves his gaze back to Andrius, "S- Sorry, I thought I heard something. It- It must have been the wind."

Andrius gives him a concerned look.

Hearing another noise, Hoji shoulders tense up as he looks back towards the trees again. His eyes are full of dread, as he turns back to Andrius, "I- I think it's time to go."

"Is- Is everything okay?"

"We- We just need to go," Hoji says as he moves his arm to allow Rose to ride on his shoulder.

Rose happily jumps to Hoji's shoulder and clacks her beak with delight.

Andrius and Hoji walk. They walk, almost as if they do not have a destination. Hoji's eyes keep darting around the trunks of the trees, and he keeps looking over his shoulder as if something is there. His steps are faster than normal, and Andrius has some difficulty keeping up. 

Andrius catches up to Hoji, trying his best to match his walking speed, "Hoji? Is- Is everything okay?"

Hoji's eyes keep darting around, "We- We need to go check on Dandelion."

"What? Why Dandelion?"

"I- I just want to make sure that she- that she's okay."

Andrius put his hand on Hoji's shoulder to try to stop him, "Hoji-"

Hoji brushes him off and keeps walking.

Andrius quickly follows behind Hoji as they return to Dandelion's nest.

As they step foot into the clearing, Andrius sees that Dandelion isn't there. Three small young gryphons sit in their nest, quietly sleeping.

Hoji feels his jaw clench up, and then turns to the owl and starts speaking quietly in a language that Andrius can’t identify. Hoji throws Rose into the air, and she flies above the trees. 

"Hoji? Where's Dandelion?" Andrius speaks up.

"I- I don't know," Hoji worriedly looks at the small gryphons, "But- But we- we need to stay here. You can use Message right?"

"I- I only have one scroll of it," Andrius says as he slowly walks towards Hoji. He places his hand on Hoji's shoulder again.

Hoji brushes Andrius off again before moving toward the small gryphons.

The three gryphons are all sleeping. Hoji pets and examines them. They slowly wake up, and he sighs in relief.

Andrius kneels down next to Hoji, staring down at the small gryphons.

Hoji is whispering something in the language that Andrius couldn't understand but from the looks of it, the small gryphons are responding. Hoji, in the middle of a sentence, stops and turns to look into the trees. The gryphons continue to chatter at Hoji as his eyes widen.

Andrius turns to look in the direction Hoji was looking and sees nothing but dark trees.

Hoji's eyes dash from side to side as he keeps checking back to the trees. He very quickly grabs two of the baby gryphons. His voice is filled with fear when he orders, "Andrius, grab Basil."

Andrius grabs the last young gryphon, but he does not seem happy with it. 

Basil struggles in Andrius' arms, clawing and biting, trying his best to force himself out of Andrius’ grasp, but Andrius holds onto the back of his neck tight.

Hoji starts pacing, and Andrius follows as quickly as he could. 

Rose, the owl, lands on Hoji's shoulder as they neared the tree line out of the forest. Rose clacks her beak as if she was talking to Hoji, and Hoji responds in that language again.

Eventually all of them reach the tree line of the forest. Hoji, holding two gryphons in his arms, a large owl on his shoulder, and Andrius, struggling with Basil behind them, walk out into the field, seeing the buildings in the distance. Hoji's pace does not slow once they are in full view of the city.

As they approach the professor's house, Hoji starts yelling, "Professor! Professor! Let us inside! Professor!"

The professor, hearing the urgency in Hoji's voice, runs towards the door and opens it up to see Hoji's terrified look on his face, "Hoji, what happened?"

Hoji pushes past the Professor and kneels down to carefully place the gryphons on the wooden flooring.

Andrius is close behind, still struggling with Basil. Once he steps through the doorway, Basil breaks free from Andrius' grasp and runs straight towards Hoji and the other gryphons.

The professor turns to Andrius. Andrius is covered in bloody scratches that started in the middle of his chest and reached up all the way to his chin. "What- What happened?" the professor hesitantly asks, knowing that he wouldn't like the answer.

Andrius looks at the professor, "I- I don't- I don't know."

The professor closes the door behind Andrius, and turns to Hoji, "Hoji, are you alright?"

Hoji looks over his shoulder, and his eyes are wide with fear. He returns to the gryphons and the owl, trying to calm each of them down.

Andrius and the professor sit at the dining table. The professor quickly looks towards Hoji and back at Andrius, "I- I've never seen Hoji this scared."

"N- Neither have I," Andrius responds, "We- We were just checking on that owl, over there, and Hoji- Hoji heard something."

"Heard something?"

"Yes, I- I don't know what, but whatever it was, it scared him. He- He started leading me to Dandelion -- the gryphon."

The professor looks over to the gryphons, "Which one is Dandelion?"

Andrius looks to the gryphons and back towards the professor, "That's- That's the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Dandelion wasn't there. The- The gryphons here, they’re her children."

"So that means-"

"Y- Yeah."

"No wonder Hoji is terrified. Another animal in his flock is missing."

"R- Right, but I think it's something else too."

At this point, Hoji's demeanor starts to calm. His shoulders drop, as Basil climbs into his arms. Sighing in relief, Hoji stands up. He walks over to the dining table, "Professor?"

"Yes?"

"You- You can cast Message, right?"

"I can. What message do you want to send?"

"My party- I need my party here."

"I'll contact Kaguya," the professor states before standing up and walking out of the room. 

"Thank you," Hoji sits down.

Andrius puts his hand on Hoji's shoulder, "Hoji, are- are you okay?"

"Y- Yeah," Hoji's eyes are glued to the table.

"What- What did you see?"

"I- I don't know. I- I couldn't see anyone. I just know that someone- someone was following us."

"What?!"

"Sorry that I didn't say anything out there, but- but I assumed they knew common. I didn't- I didn't want them to know my true intentions,” Hoji puts Basil down, and Basil runs over to his siblings.

"I understand."

"I- I was scared. I am scared."

Andrius put his hand onto Hoji's forearm, trying to look into his eyes.

Hoji moves his hand to hold Andrius', "I can't believe that the sick son of a bitch took a mother from her children!"

Andrius feels Hoji's hand tighten around his palm.

The professor walks back into the room, "Kaguya says they will return in two days.”

"Two days?!" Hoji yells back, "We can't wait two days!"

Andrius tightens his grip, "We have to wait!”

"No! I can't-" Hoji's eyes well up, "I can't- They've already taken Dandelion from her nest!” Letting go of Andrius, he continues to yell, “Who knows what they're doing with her! Who knows what they've been doing to the other animals! I- I haven't even checked on the wolves yet! Who knows if they're- they're-"

"Hoji-" Andrius pleads.

Hoji stands up quickly, knocking down the chair he was sitting in, "I have to go back! I need- I need to know- I need to know that they're safe!"

Andrius stands up, "Hoji! You can't go back -- not now!"

Tears falling down his face, Hoji yells "I have to, Andrius! I have to go back! I can't- I can't just sit here and allow that bastard to harm-”

"Hoji, **listen to me!** " Andrius' voice booms, scaring the gryphons and cracking his own glasses.

Hoji stares at Andrius waiting nervously.

Andrius sighs, "I understand you want to go back, but Hoji, you might- you might get hurt again! Hoji, they followed us today! We don't even know why they did! I understand that you want to go back, but we can't just leave! Not when we're this unprepared!"

Hoji's head drops, and he brings his hand to his upper arm, "You're- You're right." Hoji's eyes begin to well up, "But- But I can't- I can't just stay here and just to wait for more of the animals to disappear -- for two days.”

"I get that!" Andrius snaps, "But you can't just throw away your life like that either!"

Hoji's mouth twitches, and a tear rolls down his face. He takes an unsteady breath and brings his hands to his face. He begins to sob.

Andrius' tail curls around his thigh. He hangs his head down and brings his hand to the nape of his neck. 

Hoji attempts to steady his breath and lowers his hands a little. "A- Andri- Andrius, I'm- I'm sorry. I- I need- I need to go," he says in a shaky voice, before heading towards the door.

Andrius quickly grabs onto Hoji's wrist.

Hoji looks into Andrius' worried eyes. Sniffling, he turns away, “I’m… I’m sorry.”

Andrius' grip loosens until Hoji slips out of his hand.

Hoji softly closes the door behind him.

Andrius hangs his head defeated. Bringing his arm to his face, he feels his breath start to stagger. Trying to steady his breath, Andrius manages to wipe the tears off his face.

The professor walks over next to Andrius, patting him on the back.

"I- I-" Andrius struggles between sobs, "I need- I need to go after him."

"I don't want you to make the same mistake Hoji is making right now, Andrius," the professor says worriedly.

"B- But- I- I might be able- be able to- to bring him back. He... He has to come back."

"But, Andrius, you are less fit for combat than he is. You will be better staying here."

Andrius quickly turns to the professor and snaps, "But who's going to help him?!"

The professor's eyes are filled with worry, and he begins to say, "Andrius-"

Andrius cuts the professor off by quickly stepping forward, "I'm- I’m going after him."

The professor stands there, knowing he couldn't stop Andrius, and watches him slam the door behind him.


	9. Andrius?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanting to ensure Hoji's safety, Andrius heads into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of when I start to doubt my own work. I apologize if it's unsatisfactory.
> 
> Content Warning: description of wounds/gore, NSFW (sex)

Walking outside, the cool night air hits Andrius' face.

Once he gets to the tree line, Andrius stops for a moment. He looks into the dark bleakness of the forest between the trees. With only the light of the crescent moon, Andrius can barely see through his cracked glasses. He takes a deep breath and walks into the forest, yelling, "Hoji?!"

Andrius tries to follow the path that he and Hoji have been using, but not before too long, Andrius feels lost. He stops and looks around. "Hoji?!" he yells into the dark trees.

Andrius walks for what feels like hours. His throat starts to hurt, and his legs feel tired.

His pants have ripped from the amount of bushes he’s walked through trying to find Hoji. His shirt has tears in it from the low branches that scrape his sides. He breathes heavily as his throat scratches his insides when he yells, “Hoji!”

The dark trees surround him. The looming fear that he might find his way back weighed heavy on his shoulders. He breathes heavily, leaning over to try to catch his breath. Looking up, Andrius spots a blurry figure in the distance. Suddenly, Andrius' legs feel invigorated, and his throat feels numb as he screams, "Hoji!"

Andrius starts sprinting towards Hoji. His eyes start to pour tears, "Hoji!"

Hoji's blurry outline turns to look at Andrius as he runs towards him.

Andrius, determined to get to Hoji, has his eyes locked onto Hoji. Sobbing, Andrius keeps sprinting forward, and he enters a clearing in the thick trees. With a closer look at Hoji, Andrius notices he is a lot taller than usual. As Andrius gets closer, his pace begins to slow down. As Andrius begins to see Hoji's large ram-like horns, Andrius' speed slows to a jog, "H- Hoji?"

It isn’t until Andrius is a few steps away that he notices that _Hoji’s_ facial expression is a wide wicked grin.

Andrius finally slows to a halt a few steps away from _Hoji_. He almost falls backwards, but _Hoji_ grabs him by the collar.

_Hoji_ grabs Andrius’ chin with his other hand and turns Andrius’ head as if he was trying to examine him. His voice is rash as he laughs, "So, it's my son! Who would have thought I'd have a family reunion now?!"

"Wh- What?!" Andrius yells.

_Hoji_ laughs manically, "Didn't you know?!" He throws Andrius to the ground, "Your papa is back on Shangri-La!"

Andrius looks at his father in terror, "Aren't you-"

Andrius' father picks up Andrius by the collar and raises him back up to his hooves. Pulling him up higher, Andrius' hooves leave the ground. "Aren't I what?! Aren't I dead?!" Andrius' father laughs, "Sorry to disappoint you, son. I am still very much alive enough to do this!" 

Andrius' father holds up his arm and curls it into a fist. 

Andrius closes his eyes and clenches his teeth.

"Andrius!" Hoji yells from across the clearing.

Andrius' father turns to look at Hoji and brings his arm down, "Oh? Who's that?" Andrius' father drops Andrius to the ground without a second thought.

Andrius falls to the ground, feeling his ankles crunch under his own weight. Andrius grunts in pain, as he watches his father approach Hoji with a sass in his step.

Hoji stands there frozen as he watches the tall incubus approaches.

Andrius quickly gets to his hooves and runs towards Hoji, "Hoji!"

"Oh? His name is Hoji? Isn’t that who you were looking for?” the incubus leans down to look into Hoji's eyes, “How interesting.”

Hoji's eyes transfix on the incubus' glare. As his breath starts to quicken, Hoji desperately tries to look away.

Andrius tries to push his father out of the way to get to Hoji.

The incubus slams his hand onto Andrius' neck and he pins him to a tree.

Andrius gasps for air as he feels his back get scratched up by the bark.

The incubus looks into Andrius' eyes, "Who said that you could come over here?"

Hoji quickly grabs onto the incubus' arm that held Andrius. He digs his claws into the incubus’ forearm as tears flow down his face, "Let go of him!"

The incubus looks into Hoji's fearful eyes. Lifting his hand, the incubus says, "And who said you could crash our reunion?!" The incubus backhands Hoji’s cheek, causing Hoji to fall down onto the ground. "Now, where were we?" Andrius' father looks back at Andrius.

Andrius desperately gasps for air as he looks at Hoji, "H- Ho- Hoji."

"Oh, I know that look," Andrius' father tightens his grip, "So he's your lover?"

Andrius doesn't respond, still gasping for air.

The incubus drops Andrius. He turns to Hoji. Seeing Hoji's eyes lock on Andrius, the incubus says, "Ah, so you two are."

As the incubus’ eyes glare into him, Hoji cannot move. He feels his breath quicken and his whole body tense up, ready for an incoming punch. Desperately trying to close his eyes, he flinches as the incubus kneels down.

The incubus is practically twice the size of Hoji, and even when he leans down, he looks as if he is going to crush him. His large ram horns are as big as Hoji’s face. The incubus brings his hand up and gently caresses Hoji’s cheek. With a wicked smile, the incubus leans in and places his lips onto Hoji’s.

Hoji's eyes start wide but slowly close, as the incubus places his hand on Hoji’s neck. 

The incubus’ hand tightly grips onto Hoji’s neck, causing Hoji to cough.

Pushing his hands against the incubus, Hoji kicks, pushes, and cuts the incubus, desperately trying to get him off, but to no avail.

After a few seconds, Hoji’s arms fall to his side.

Andrius quickly catches his breath and stands up. Kicking his father's side, Andrius knocks him over.

The incubus falls into the dirt, "Hey! I was _trying_ to do something!"

Andrius kneels above Hoji. "Hoji?!" Andrius grabs Hoji's collar.

“Andrius?” Hoji’s eyes are blank, “Do you need something?”

“We need to get out of here!” Andrius yells, grabbing Hoji’s collar.

“Run where?” Hoji’s voice is soft and calm.

“This isn’t the time to ask those kinds of questions!” Andrius shakes him, “What did he do to you?!”

“When is a good time?”

Andrius shakes him again, yelling, “Hoji, snap out of it! We need to get out of here!”

Hoji’s eyes shut tight as he grunts in pain. Bringing his hand to his forehead, he looks up at Andrius, "We- We need to get out of here…?"

“Yes!” Andrius pulls up Hoji to his feet, "Can you Wild Shape?!"

“I-” Hoji stands up, feeling his head throb in pain. Looking towards the incubus on the ground, he feels his stomach turn. Turning to look back at Andrius, he feels his body start to orient itself. Transforming into a large buck, he leans down enough for Andrius to climb on his back. 

Andrius struggles to get on, but manages to secure himself by holding onto Hoji’s large antlers.

Giving one last glance at the incubus, Hoji quickly stands up, feeling his stomach starting to twist again. Sprinting into the treeline, he weaves and jumps between trees, leaving the incubus in the clearing.

Hoji hops between the trees until they reach the tree line of the town. Hoji’s eyes roll back. He feels his legs suddenly weak and falls to his knees. His Wild Shape dispels, and he falls down exhausted.

Andrius quickly jumps into the grass as Hoji returns to his half-oni form. 

Hoji sits up and breathes heavily.

Andrius crawls over to Hoji and grabs him by the shoulders, "Hoji?! Is everything alright?!"

Hoji leans over, coughing into his hands. As he pulls his hands away, Hoji sees a bright red flow down onto the grass.

Andrius gasps, “Healing Word!”

Hoji sighs and casts Cure Wounds on himself, “I’ll be alright.”

Andrius grabs Hoji’s hand to help him stand up, “Let’s get back to the professor’s house.”

“Yeah…”

The professor quickly opens the door as soon as he sees Andrius and Hoji approaching his front door, "Andrius! Hoji! Thank gods!"

Andrius and Hoji walk inside, but neither of them speak up. Once the professor closes the door behind the two of them, Hoji walks to the baby griffins and Rose to comfort himself. Andrius sits on the couch, head in his hands.

“What… What happened out there?” the professor finally asks.

“We… We found out who’s controlling the animals…” Andrius says in a quiet voice.

“Who…?”

Hoji doesn’t look back, “An incubus...”

The professor turns to look at Hoji, before worriedly turning back to Andrius, “Did either of you get hurt?!”

Andrius looks up, “No, but-”

Hoji cuts Andrius off, “I’m fine.”

Andrius looks up at Hoji worriedly, before quickly turning his head to look at the floor in front of him.

The professor gives them a worried look, “It is getting late. We can talk about what happened tomorrow.”

Andrius slowly nods his head before standing up.

Hoji turns back to look at Andrius.

A tension stands between them. Hoji looks at Andrius’ bruised neck. Andrius looks at the new scar that now slid across Hoji’s cheek.

Hoji takes a step forward towards Andrius and grabs his hand, “Come on…”

Andrius looks down at Hoji’s hand, “Okay…”

The two of them leave the professor’s home. Stepping outside, the moon’s light blurs the ground as they walk to Andrius’ dorm.

Stepping inside, Andrius looks at Hoji.

Hoji looks back with a worried look on his face.

Sitting on the bed, the two of them remain silent for a few minutes.

Andrius wraps his arm around Hoji, leaning down to look into Hoji’s eyes, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Hoji responds, feeling his shoulder tense up.

Holding Hoji a little tighter, Andrius says, “Hoji… Are you sure that you’re okay?”

“I am… really,” Hoji says quietly, “I just… I don’t know.”

Andrius frowns, “A lot did happen… I’m… I’m just glad you came back.”

Hoji puts his hand on Andrius’ hand, “Sorry for bursting out like that…”

“No, it’s okay…” Andrius pulls Hoji a little closer, “You were just worried about the animals… I understand.”

“But you told me not to go…” Hoji intertwines his fingers with Andrius’, “I… I should have listened.”

“Hoji…”

“Sorry… I don’t want to make you worry about me like that…” Hoji leans on Andrius’ chest, “I’ll… I’ll be more careful.”

“But if you didn’t go… we wouldn’t have found who’s been doing this.”

“But if I didn’t go, you wouldn’t be hurt.”

Andrius frowns, “We’re safe now… aren’t we?”

Hoji places his head on Andrius’ chest, “We’re going to have to deal with the incubus in two days…”

“That’s in two days.”

“I guess you’re right…” Hoji gets comfortable in Andrius’ arms.

Andrius kisses Hoji’s head, rubbing Hoji’s arm reassuringly.

“Thanks for saving me…” Hoji brings his knees to his chest, “Again…”

Andrius blushes, “I wouldn’t put it that way.”

“That’s how I think of it…” Hoji leans into Andrius’ chest more.

“I helped you run away from my biological father… I don’t think that’s exactly close to an adventurer saving the capital from destruction.”

Hoji snickers, “I had help doing that…”

Andrius smiles softly, placing his nose into Hoji’s hair.

Hoji lifts his head to look at Andrius, his eyes lock with Andrius’,“Running away or saving me… either way, I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad you’re here too.”

Hoji raises his arms around Andrius’ head, forcing him to lean down a little. Placing his lips on Andrius’, Hoji feels Andrius tense up, before quickly settling down again.

Leaning into Hoji, Andrius opens his mouth to gently bite down on Hoji’s lip, keeping it closed enough to ensure that his fangs wouldn’t piece anything.

Feeling Andrius’ teeth, Hoji’s entire body tenses up. Pulling up his arm to the top of Andrius back, Hoji leans forwards.

Finally being able to put his tongue in Hoji’s mouth, Andrius lifts his glasses over his forehead. Placing his chest onto Hoji, Andrius feels Hoji's weight shift. Holding Hoji by the waist of his back, Andrius leans into him.

Hoji lifts his arm to hold the back of Andrius' head, trying his best to get him closer. Running his fingers through Andrius’ hair, Hoji shifts his legs so that he could more comfortably sit down, placing each of his legs on either side of Andrius.

Andrius feels Hoji's small tusks clack against his large fangs, as he pulls Hoji closer to him. 

Hoji's chest and abdomen push up into Andrius, and he can feel Andrius’ muscles tighten and his heartbeat pounds through his shirt.

Andrius, holding Hoji’s waist tight, lifts Hoji’s shirt up.

Hoji breaks off from kissing, his breaths hot and heavy on Andrius’ chin. He moves his arms to grab onto each Andrius’ forearms. Leading Andrius’ arms down his back, Hoji places Andrius’ hands on the back of his thighs.

Being able to hold up Hoji much more easily, Andrius picks Hoji up off of the bed. Shifting his body to a more comfortable position, Andrius feels Hoji’s legs cross around his waist, before kissing him again.

Letting gravity do some of the work for him, Hoji leans into Andrius, wrapping his arms around Andrius’ neck just to stay on.

Andrius feels his dick rise in his pants, and he moans into Hoji’s mouth.

Hoji’s eyes snap open, before he quickly breaks off.

Andrius looks up at Hoji and says through heavy breaths, “S- Sorry, I can’t help it.”

Andrius’ breaths feel warm on Hoji’s neck, “It’s- It’s okay.” Pulling off Andrius’ glasses, Hoji places them on the desk beside the bed.

As Hoji turns back to look at him, Andrius slowly lowers Hoji down.

Hoji squeaks and tightens his thighs on Andrius’ waist as he feels Andrius’ bulge. Hoji’s pussy throbs as he leans into Andrius as best he could.

Slowly letting Hoji sit down on his lap, Andrius very cautiously watches Hoji’s movements.

Hoji’s breath quickens, and he tightens his arms around Andrius’ neck. He looks up at Andrius.

Andrius gives Hoji a worried look, trying his best to ensure that Hoji is okay with all of this, “Can I- Can I lay you on your back?”

Hoji nervously nods and places his head on Andrius’ neck, holding him as tight as he can.

Andrius picks up Hoji by the thighs and slowly turns himself around so that he can gently lay Hoji down onto the soft blankets.

When Hoji is on his back, Andrius is holding himself up above Hoji with his elbows, “Are- Are you alright?"

Hoji blushes, "Y- Yeah."

Andrius kisses him gently, pushing Hoji’s head into the blankets.

Hoji lets his legs fall down from Andrius’ waist, and he grabs onto Andrius’ horns.

Andrius moves his hand to the back of Hoji’s thigh. Lifting his thigh up, Andrius' tail wraps around Hoji's shin, the barb almost cutting into skin. He pulls away from Hoji’s lips and lets his tongue slide down to Hoji’s neck. As he tightens his grip, he slowly places his crotch onto Hoji's. 

Hoji’s breaths tense up as he feels Andrius' boner on his crotch, and Hoji takes a deep breath, feeling his pussy get wetter by the second. Tightening his legs around Andrius' abdomen, Hoji's entire body tingles when Andrius' fangs touch the croak of Hoji’s neck. Through shuddering breaths, Hoji softly grunts into Andrius' ear.

Andrius bites into Hoji's neck and thrusts his pelvis.

Hoji's breaths get faster, and he moves his arms to wrap around Andrius’ chest. Clutching the back of Andrius' shirt, he feels Andrius get harder through the fabric.

Thrusting his crotch into Hoji, Andrius has a slow rhythm. Feeling his penis rub against the fabric of his pants, Andrius pushes himself into Hoji more, wrapping his arms around him.

Hoji moans quietly into Andrius’ ear.

Andrius reaches under Hoji’s shirt, feeling the scars that covered his back. Lifting himself up to get a decent look at Hoji’s face, Andrius feels his dick harden in his pants. Quickly leaning into Hoji to kiss him again, Andrius slowly moves his hands to the waistband of Hoji's pants. 

Placing his hand on Andrius’, Hoji feels his abdomen start to twitch and tighten. Trying to push Andrius’ hand through the waistband of his pants, Hoji feels himself get wetter. 

Andrius grabs onto the waistband of Hoji’s pants, pulling downwards.

Hoji breaks off from kissing to take in short breaths. Looking up at Andrius, he tries to focus on helping him. Pullings one of his legs through the pants, Hoji gives Andrius full access to his pussy.

Lifting his head up, Andrius takes a struggling breath. He moves his hand to his waist and unbuckles his belt. Breathing a large gulp of air, he starts unbuttoning his pants.

Hoji's legs tense up, squeezing Andrius' sides. He tries to pull him down closer, trying to make their chests meet, but Andrius holds himself up as he continues to unbutton.

Finally pulling out his dick, Andrius takes a deep breath. He brings down his shaft to rub it against Hoji’s clit.

Hoji’s legs cross around Andrius’ waist, trying to bring him closer.

Andrius leans down and wraps his arms around Hoji, letting their chests meet. He thrusts, letting his shaft rub against Hoji’s clit. After a couple thrusts, Andrius returns back to his slow rhythm. A moan escapes Andrius’ mouth, as he looks down at Hoji.

Hoji brings down one of his hands to where their abdomens met. Touching the tip of Andrius’ penis, Hoji feels Andrius’ abdomen twitch. Wrapping his hand around Andrius’ penis, he hears Andrius let out another moan.

Andrius thrusts into Hoji’s hand and takes in deep breaths. He leans down and kisses Hoji. Bringing his hand underneath Hoji’s chest, Andrius feels Hoji’s muscles tense up. Thrusting faster, Andrius finds himself lost in the sweet taste of Hoji’s mouth.

Hoji does his best to hold his hand still, letting Andrius thrust in and out of it, but Hoji finds himself distracted more with how good Andrius feels against his clit.

As he feels Hoji’s grip start to loosen, Andrius is quick to bring his hand down to his penis. Gripping Hoji’s hand tight around his dick, Andrius starts thrusting faster.

Hoji breaks off from kissing. Panting, he looks up at Andrius.

Andrius stops thrusting for a moment to look at Hoji’s face. He feels his heart pound through his body, “Can- Can I go in?”

Hoji’s face blushes a deep red, slowly letting go of Andrius’ member. Looking into Andrius’ eyes, he pleads, “Pl- Please…”

Andrius grabs his shaft.

Hoji moves his hand and opens up his pussy lips.

The head of Andrius' penis enters Hoji.

Hoji's legs tighten, and his breath starts to quicken.

Andrius slowly enters Hoji, his shaft slowly pushing forward deep into Hoji's pussy.

Hoji grunts and clutches Andrius’ shirt.

Andrius' moans under his breath as he slowly pushes in. Finally bringing his elbows to either side of Hoji, he leans down next to Hoji’s ear, “You’re… You’re tight.”

Hoji’s teeth clench and eyes close as he feels Andrius’ slowly go deep inside of him, “You’re- You’re too big.”

“Sorry, I’ll- I’ll go slower, okay?”

“O- Okay,” Hoji says as he tries to relax himself.

Continuing to push into Hoji, Andrius feels Hoji’s entire body tense up again. Using his arm to Andrius pushes Hoji’s waist into him, letting his penis go deeper.

Feeling Andrius’ lower abdomen press onto his, Hoji thighs tighten again.

“I’m in,” Andrius says as he starts catching his breath.

Hoji brings his hand down to pinch his clit, and he feels himself get wetter.

Andrius leans down to kiss Hoji again, pushing his tongue between his fangs.

Hoji can't focus on anything besides how hard Andrius' penis was inside of him and how warm his tongue is.

Andrius pulls away from Hoji's mouth and lifts himself to his hands, making Hoji let go of the back of his shirt. “I’m going to start thrusting now, okay?”

“Slowly… Please...” Hoji responds as he feels his pussy throb again.

Thrusting slowly in and out of Hoji, Andrius keeps his eyes on Hoji to ensure he is okay, before uncontrollably lifting his chin and moaning.

Hoji grabs onto Andrius’ collar, before closing his eyes tight.

Andrius leans back down into Hoji, kissing his neck.

Hoji wraps his arms around Andrius as he feels Andrius get harder inside of him.

Andrius moans into Hoji’s neck as he trusts a little faster into him.

Hoji finally catches his breath, closes his eyes shut. He feels his shoulders tense up as he tightens his arms around Androus’ torso. Softly into Andrius' ear, Hoji pleads, "H- Harder."

After taking himself away from Hoji’s neck, Andrius looks down at Hoji, worriedly.

Hoji looks up at Andrius, desperately trying to focus on Andrius’ eyes and placing his hand onto Andrius’ shoulder, “Pl- Please…”

Andrius thrusts into Hoji hard.

Hoji lifts his chin and moans before taking in short breaths.

Repeatedly thrusting, Andrius moans through clenched teeth and leans back down into Hoji, kissing him again. 

Hoji tightens his grip on Andrius. His legs tighten around Andrius' sides. As he grips tighter onto Andrius' shirt, his breaths quicken.

Andrius moans into Hoji’s mouth, before lifting his arm and holding onto Hoji's forearm. Thrusting faster and more forcefully, he cannot control the loud hums of his moans into Hoji’s mouth.

Hoji starts thrusting his hips into Andrius, and he feels himself start to edge as he does his best to focus on Andrius’ penis.

Andrius keeps thrusting and tightens his grip on Hoji's forearm, trying his best to keep his moans down.

Hoji's eyes roll back, and he loses feeling in his mouth. He cannot focus on anything but Andrius’ warm penis and his throbbing pussy. He breaks off from kissing and lifts his chin, feeling his spine arch as he cums onto Andrius' penis.

Andrius feels Hoji's grip loosen, but Andrius tightens his claws into Hoji's forearm. He keeps thrusting until he feels a tension near the bottom of his abdomen. "H- Hoji, I- I think-" Andrius moans, "I think I'm going to-"

Hoji can only focus on his throbbing pussy and Andrius’ member inside of him, not hearing Andrius at all.

Taking his penis out, Andrius does a slow thrust, placing his penis on Hoji's abdomen. With a loud and deep moan, Andrius cums onto Hoji's stomach, his cum reaching to the collar of Hoji's shirt. He thrusts very slowly, ensuring that his penis wouldn't leave Hoji's abdomen, allowing another load of cum to deposit onto Hoji's stomach. Andrius takes a moment to catch his breath, suddenly feeling extremely tired.

Hoji's legs feel numb. His arms fall to his sides.

Andrius takes in deep breaths before rolling himself to Hoji’s side.

Hoji’s breaths start to steady as he turns his head to look at Andrius. He leans into him, kissing him roughly.

Andrius is quick to bring Hoji close to him again, grabbing the back of Hoji’s shirt and pushing Hoji towards his chest.

As their chests meet, Hoji could feel the warm cum that on his shirt rub onto Andrius’ shirt. Hoji breaks off, breathing heavily gulps of Andrius’ air.

Andrius tries to lean into Hoji again, but Hoji pushes on his chest.

“We- We got cum on your shirt,” Hoji says before trying to catch his breath.

“O- Oh,” Andrius looks down at his chest and sighs. Unbuttoning his shirt, he feels as if his arms are going to give out.

Taking off his own cum covered shirt, Hoji shifts himself so that Andrius could lay down.

Andrius takes off his shirt, sits up, and throws it onto the desk chair. 

As soon as Andrius lays down, Hoji is quick to lay on top of him, placing his head on Andrius' chest. 

Placing his hand on Hoji's head, Andrius pets Hoji, until they both fall asleep.


	10. The Influence

Hoij wakes up, his head laying on Andrius' chest. Laying there, he feels Andrius' chest slowly rise and fall with every calm breath he takes. Hoji smiles softly, digging his face nose deeper into Andrius' chest.

The sudden shift of Hoji's head makes Andrius' eyes flutter open. Placing his hand on the back of Hoji's head, Andrius lifts his head so that he can feel Hoji's soft hair on his chin.

Hoji shifts to look up at Andrius.

"Oh hey," Andrius groggily says.

"Hey," Hoji says before his face turns a pale blush.

Andrius snickers, "Remembering last night?"

"Sh- Shut up," Hoji says before looking away nervously.

Lifting Hoji's chin, Andrius gets lost in Hoji's eyes. He smiles, "I've gotten used to waking up next to you."

Hoji blushes and pulls his hand to meet Andrius’. He puts his face into Andrius' palm, "Me... Me too."

Sitting up, Andrius kisses Hoji.

Hoji feels Andrius' warm lips on his and brings his arm around Andrius' neck.

Andrius pulls away to put his mouth on Hoji’s neck.

Hoji laughs, “That tickles.”

Andrius stops, moving his head away. His face gives a somber look.

“Andrius?”

“S- Sorry, I’ll see you at the professor’s home, later?”

“Um… Yeah… I’ll be there.”

“Good…” Andrius places his hooves on the wooden floor boards, “Hoji?”

“Andrius?”

“Can you promise me to not leave into the forest without me?”

“... Of course.”

Andrius stands up, “Thanks…”

Hoji sits there, staring up at the back of Andrius’ head.

Andrius chokes down tears, picking up the dirtied clothes he can see.

“Did… Did something happen?”

“No…” Andrius turns to look at Hoji, “Sorry, I guess I sounded a little serious… I just… I just want you to be safe…”

Hoji crawls across the bed, sitting on his knees. Looking up at Andrius, he rises to Andrius’ height, putting his palm on Andrius’ cheek. Wiping a tear, Hoji looks into Andrius’ eyes.

The two’s eyes lock, and Hoji can feel Andrius’ worry.

Andrius closes his eyes and a tear rolls down his face.

Hoji rises to kiss Andrius’ lips.

Andrius’ hand combs through the back of Hoji’s hair, gently returning the kiss.

Slowly breaking off, Hoji looks into Andrius’ eyes.

Andrius’ yellow eyes look into Hoji’s. The worry he once felt slips away as Hoji’s lips curl into a smile. Smiling back, Andrius laughs softly, “Thanks…”

Hoji kisses Andrius’ cheek, “I love you.”

Andrius smiles, “I love you too.”

Hoji pulls himself away, sitting on his knees again. Hugging Andrius' chest, he says, “Don’t worry too much, okay?”

“Okay…”

Hoji pulls away and climbs off the bed.

Andrius watches as Hoji walks around the room, looking at Hoji’s scars as he moves. The large scars that span across Hoji’s back makes Andrius’ skin crawl.

Hoji looks over his shoulder to look at Andrius.

Andrius turns away, feeling his stomach rise to this throat, “I’m going to go to clean these…”

Hoji looks up at Andrius with the clothes from last night, “Okay, I’ll see you at the professor’s house, yeah?”

Andrius grabs the door handle, “Yeah.”

After he gets dressed, Hoji steps outside of the dorm building. The clouds cover the warm summer sun, as Hoji suddenly hears when he sees the professor.

"Hoji!” the professor yells. 

Hoji looks up.

As the professor walks closer, he asks, “Can you tell me what happened yesterday?”

“Oh, um… yeah,” Hoji walks with the professor, trying his best to explain what really happened yesterday.

With that, Hoji and the professor walk away from Andrius' dorm.

As they walk through the quiet streets, the professor asks, “Did you two have fun last night?”

“Wh- What?”

“You have a hickey on your neck.”

“I have a what on my neck?!” Hoji quickly brings his hand to his neck, trying his best to cover up the bruise.

The professor laughs, “Don’t worry. I don’t mind, but you should be mindful of Andrius’ dormmates.”

Hoji’s body completely tenses up, “Dorm- Dormmates?!” He starts picking up his pace, walking past the professor, “Do- Do you have a bandage?”

“Yes,” the professor says as he walks up to the front door, “The bandages are in the same room as the bath, and if you’d like to clean up, you may use it.”

Hoji hangs his head down in embarrassment, “Th- Thanks.”

Hours pass, and Andrius finds himself coming out of the bathhouse. Taking a deep breath, he starts walking to the cafe.

The cafe is surprisingly quiet, despite it being the weekend. Ordering a black coffee and a strawberry latte, Andrius looks around the strangely empty tables. His mind wanders thinking of what possibly made the place empty today.

Receiving the two drink orders, Andrius cautiously walks over to the professor's home. The streets are strangely quiet. There were the usual market stalls placed up, but if there is anyone there, there are only one or two people running it. 

Eventually Andrius arrives at the professor's home. Andrius can hear the clacking of the professor's heels through the door. They sound fast and get softer and louder in intervals.

Andrius knocks on the door, "Professor?"

"Andrius!" the professor yells through the door before opening it.

Looking at the professor, Andrius notices the worry in his eyes, "Wh- What's going on?"

The professor turns his body to show Hoji.

Hoji's hand is tied to the support beam. He has a blank expression spread across his face, and he looks directly at Andrius.

"He- He's been like this for thirty minutes now. I did my best, but he's trying to leave," the professor says as he looks at Hoji.

Andrius starts walking towards Hoji, staring into his blank eyes. Andrius places the two cups of coffee onto the table. Holding Hoji's face, Andrius watches Hoji's eyes slowly rise to Andrius'. "H- Hoji?" Andrius says hesitantly.

"Yes?" Hoji said in that calmly neutral voice.

Andrius gives him a worried look and turns to look at the professor again, “What’s wrong with him?”

The professor closes the door, “I don’t know. He just started acting like thirty minutes ago.”

Hoji's eyes follow Andrius as he moves.

Andrius notices Hoji's stare, "Hoji, please stop that."

"Stop what?" Hoji says looking directly into Andrius' eyes.

"Staring, you're freaking me out."

"Where should I look?"

Andrius' eyebrow raises, "Uh- The- The table?"

"Okay," Hoji turns to look at the table.

Andrius sighs.

The professor looks at Andrius, "How are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" Andrius raises an eyebrow.

"Commanding him like that. What are you doing?"

"Oh, I- I don't know, but he was acting like this while we were out in the forest..."

"Andrius, you said it's your father who's influencing Hoji, right?"

"Y- Yeah, why?"

"Do you think you're influencing Hoji?"

"Oh, uh- I- I don’t know."

"But you are commanding him." 

Andrius shrugs, “I… I guess I am.” 

The professor walks to Hoji, untying Hoji’s hands.

"Wh- What are you doing?" Andrius stands up with a worried look.

"Testing a hypothesis.”

Hoji's hand falls to his side, and he does not look away from the table.

"Andrius, tell Hoji to do something," the professor commands.

"Wh- Why?" Andrius stutters.

"I just want to test this, please humor me."

"Hoji, uh- turn around."

"Okay," Hoji turns around and looks up at Andrius' worried expression.

"Uh- come- walk over to me."

Hoji walks over to Andrius until he is a few feet in front of Andrius. Hoji tilts his head and looks up at Andrius, “Anything else?”

The professor walks up to Andrius and Hoji and observes Hoji’s eyes, “You said he was acting like this in the forest?”

“Y- Yeah…”

“But he wasn’t like this when you two arrived at my home.”

“Yeah, he snapped out of it.”

"I- I kissed him," Andrius' hand raises to the nape of his neck.

"Anything else?"

"Uh- Well, I- I guess I really hated seeing Hoji like this. It- It overwhelmed me."

The professor hums in thought, "How are you feeling right now?"

"Creeped out," Andrius bluntly says, "I want Hoji to turn around right now just so that I don't have to look at his blank eyes."

"Okay," Hoji turns around.

Andrius sighs.

The professor says, "Hoji, turn around."

Hoji does nothing.

"Hoji, turn around," Andrius speaks up -- looking at Hoji's blank expression is better than awkwardly looking at the table across the room.

Hoji looks up at Andrius expectingly.

Andrius turns away, "Professor, I hate this. I understand you're trying to help Hoji snap out of whatever this is -- but I don’t see how I can help in any way."

"Snap out of what?" Hoji says confused.

"The incubus’ influence!" Andrius sighs, “I… I just want Hoji back…”

Hoji's head throbs in pain. Stumbling backward, he loses his footing.

"Hoji!" Andrius quickly steps forward to catch Hoji. Andrius manages to grab Hoji's back, before Hoji lands.

Hoji looks up at Andrius’ panicked eyes, and as best as he could, he leans onto him, placing his lips on his.

Andrius breaks away quickly, "Hoji?!"

"Huh? What’s wrong?" Hoji says, trying to orient himself in Andrius’ arms.

The professor looks at the two of them, "Wait, Andrius, what did you just say?”

Andrius looks up, “Um… that I wanted Hoji back?”

“What about in the forest? What did you say when Hoji’s influence dropped?”

“I… I don’t remember.”

Hoji perks up, “Andrius told me to ‘snap out of it.’ That’s when I was able to control my body again.”

Hoji thinks for a moment, "He- He told me that he didn't like me- me being not- not Hoji."

The professor thinks for a moment, "Andrius, when you returned to my home, you didn't say anything as direct as you did right now. However, the worry on your face definitely showed that you wanted to see Hoji back, am I correct in saying that?"

"That- That is correct," Andrius spoke up.

"Is it possible that you've been commanding Hoji out of the incubus' influence with an influence of your own?"

"I supposed that could be correct, but Hoji- Hoji returned back to the incubus' influence today."

"When you weren't with him."

Andrius thinks for a moment, "I guess, but what does that mean for us?"

"It means that your influence could help protect the party when the time comes."

"I'm not sure… I’m not sure if that’s going to work out."

"We need to at least try," the professor says sternly, "However, we need to wait. You two are staying here, together, until the adventuring party arrives."

"Of course," Andrius says as he looks over to Hoji.

Hoji sees the worry in Andrius' eyes, and sympathetically looks back.

Andrius sighs and starts walking towards the dining table.

Hoji follows as he carefully watches Andrius' tail curl up. After sitting down, Hoji asks, "Which one- Which one is mine?"

Andrius stares at the two cups, "I- I forgot."

"Well, I guess I'll just- I'll taste both of them," Hoji says as he grabs the one nearest to him.

Andrius sighs before letting his head land on the table.

Hoji tastes his bitter coffee, glad he chose the right one. He can't stand how sweet Andrius' lattes are.

The two of them sit silently for a couple of minutes as the professor scurries around his home looking for something to write on.

Hoji places his hand on Andrius’ back, "Andrius?"

"Hoji."

"I- I got mine."

"Thanks, Hoji," Andrius doesn't move.

"Um- I think we should get started on some Cure Wounds scrolls."

Andrius brings his head up, "Why's that?"

"Well, you- you might need them. I- I don't expect you to actually want to go into combat."

"What? I mean, I don't- I'm not exactly ecstatic about being in combat, I- I guess."

"I'll try my best to make sure that you don't get any of the larger hits, b- but I- I'm not sure how long I'll be able to do that."

"I'm- I'm not really worried about getting hit."

Hoji looks up at Andrius' worried face, "You're- You're not?"

"I'm- I'm not," Andrius pauses for a moment, "I'm more worried about keeping everyone out of the incubus' influence."

"Oh, I- I can't help with that."

“I know..."

The silence returns, before Hoji places his coffee down, "I'm- I'm going to grab some parchment."

Standing up, Hoji leaves to another room and Andrius is left alone for a moment. 

Andrius worries about tomorrow. Tomorrow is when Hoji’s party is coming to help with this situation. Knowing that he’s going to be the only one to keep them all out of the influence stresses Andrius out. Andrius sighs.

Hoji walks back into the room with a few rolls of parchment, "Andrius? Where- Where's the professor?"

Andrius looks at Hoji confused, "Wasn't he in that room?"

"N- No."

Andrius quickly stands up, "Professor?!"

Hoji quickly places the parchment on the table, "Professor?!"

Andrius turns towards the front door. It is open. It wasn't open a few minutes ago. He walks towards the open doorway, "Professor?!"

Hoji quickens his step to look through the open door.

The professor is walking. His movement is slow and looks as if he would fall in the dirt at any moment. 

Hoji quickly ran towards the professor with Andrius lagging a little behind, "Professor!"

The professor's face has that blank stare to it. He is walking towards the tree line mumbling to himself.

Andrius finally catches up and stands in front of the professor, "Hey!"

The professor stops, "Yes, Andrius?"

Andrius swears in Infernal under his breath and looks at Hoji.

Hoji stares back at Andrius, "Tell him to snap out of it!"

Andrius looks back at Hoji, "Is that-"

"Just do it! We need to find out what works anyway!"

Andrius looks back at the professor, "Professor? I- I need you to snap out of it!"

The professor's expression remains blank. He tilts his head, "Excuse me?"

Andrius looks back at Hoji hoping for guidance.

Hoji looks back with a terrified stare, "Can you tell him to return home?"

Andrius looks back at the professor, "Could- Could you return back home?"

The professor stares into Andrius' eyes, "Of course."

Andrius watches as the professor turns around and begins heading towards his home. With a sigh of relief, Andrius watches as the professor returns back to his home.

Hoji pulls Andrius’ arm, “H- Hey, is- is it normal for so many people walking like that?”

Andrius looks up at a large crowd of people. They all have blank stares to them and look as though they were going to fall over at any moment.

Hoji holds Andrius' hand, "That can't-"

Andrius looks down towards Hoji, fear in his eyes, "Let's- Let's head back to the house."

The two watch as the people of the town mindless walk towards the forest. All of them have deep circles under their eyes and large pupils. They walk, almost stumbling, towards the trees, until Hoji and Andrius couldn't see them any longer.

As he enters the professor’s home, Hoji feels a chill climb up his spine. Closing the door behind him, he asks, "Andrius, is- is that how I looked when I was under the influence?"

Andrius is standing next to the professor waving his hands in front of him, "Yeah, it- it freaks me out too."

Hoji turns to look at the professor, "Wh- Why didn't he snap out of it?"

"I- I don't know," Andrius looks the professor in the blank eyes, "Professor, sit at the table."

"Of course," the professor sits down at the dining table.

"Well, it- it looks like I have influence over him. I'll- I'll try again," Andrius takes a deep breath and yells, "Professor!"

"Yes, Andrius?"

"Stop being under the influence!" Andrius yells in the professor's face.

Hoji watches as the professor's face becomes a little less pale, but Andrius' efforts were in vain.

Andrius turns to look at Hoji, "I- I think he's- I don't think I-"

Hoji comes over and holds Andrius' hand. After giving himself a few moments to think, Hoji snaps, "Andrius!" 

Andrius jumps back.

"If we don't have the professor here right now, we can't make any mage armor! Do you know how important mage armor is?! Can you imagine going into battle without fucking mage armor?! I've been in a lot of battles without bark skin, Andrius, do you know how much that shit hurts?!"

Andrius' eyes are in terror, "Hoji!"

"Andrius!" Hoji closes his fists and closes his eyes, "The professor!"

"The professor?!" Andrius turns towards the professor, "Professor, I'm scared! I need you back!"

The professor shakes his head very subtly. His hand reaches his forehead as he groans.

Hoji's eyes brighten up, as he sees the professor's light begin to return to his face.

Andrius sighs in relief, "Oh, thank gods."

The professor looks up at Hoji, "Hoji, you've been processed by that?!”

Hoji's eyes dart around the room, "Y- Yeah."

Andrius looks at the both of them confused, "Is- Is there something I'm missing?"

"Do not worry, Andrius, just- just don't let me succumb to the incubus' influence again, please," the professor says as he turns back to Andrius.

"I’ll- I'll try my best."

Hoji speaks up, "We need to make scrolls! We- We don't know how long this is going to last."

"Hoji's right. We need to make the best out of this time," the professor quickly turns around to begin writing on the parchment, "Andrius, be sure to check up on me and Hoji every few minutes in case we return to the incubus' influence."

"Of- Of course," Andrius stutters before sitting at the dining table.

"Hoji, you focus on creating Cure Wounds scrolls. I'll create everything else Andrius may need."

Hoji nods and sits down at the table.

The three of them sit there mostly silent.

As the sun hangs low in the sky, Hoji stands up and stretches his wrists.

Andrius looks up from writing, "Hoji?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Oh, yeah, I am. Maybe a little tired, but fine."

"Do you want me to prepare dinner?"

"That- That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Professor, do you have any salad ingredients?"

The professor doesn't look up, "Only have rice and meat rations."

"O- Oh," Hoji says softly.

Andrius sighs before walking towards the cupboard, finding rice and meat rations. He grabs one of each before handing some ration to Hoji.

Hoji sits down away from the ink stained dining table and quietly eats his brick of rice. He is not phased by the fact he has to eat a brick of rice, but he already misses those fancy crepes.

Andrius, on the other hand, has dried pork meat. It tastes too salty for him, but he endures it.

The two sit on the couch comfortably, Hoji leaning on Andrius. Hoji's feet are off the ground, and his knees reach his chest.

It is not very long until they finish eating, and Hoji stands up, "I think I'll be heading to bed."

The professor looks back, "Andrius, do you mind staying down here with me? I'm close to finishing this Message scroll."

"Of course, professor," Andrius says, as he watches Hoji go up the stairs.

Hours pass, and Andrius almost passes out on the couch, before the professor finally stands up and stretches.

"Andrius, thank you for ensuring that I do not succumb to the incubus' influence, but it looks as though you are about to fall asleep."

Andrius groggily sits up, "Y- Yeah."

"Of course, I'll let you retire. You are leaving for combat tomorrow. I won't be joining you and Hoji, however. I am just another body to be controlled by the incubus."

"I- I see," Andrius stands up, "I hope- I hope things go well tomorrow."

"I hope so too, remember to use the Message scroll, if you are unable to come back."

"That- That isn't very reassuring."

"It is a possibility. Good night, Andrius," the professor says as he begins to walk up the stairs.

Andrius slowly walks to the room where he and Hoji are staying. He stands in front of the door for a moment and takes a deep breath, before opening the door.

Hoji is under the blankets of the bed, holding his knees to his chest. He doesn't move in response to Andrius opening the door.

After taking off his belt, vest, and glasses and placing them on the desk, Andrius climbs under the blankets.

Hoji turns over and mumbles something in oni. He puts his hand out and touches Andrius' arm. Pulling himself toward Andrius, Hoji says something under his breath.

Andrius moves his arm to allow Hoji's head to lay on his forearm.

Hoji places his leg on Andrius chest and mumbles, "I love you."

Andrius smiles softly, "I love you, too," and leans to kiss Hoji's forehead.


	11. The Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Readying to fight the incubus head on, Hoji, Andrius, and the adventuring party attempt to prepare themselves for this difficult enemy.

Hoji wakes up and finds himself close to Andrius. He felt Andrius' warm chest through the thick fabric of his shirt. He was breathing slow and calmly. Hoji sits up and stretches. 

Getting out of bed, Hoji feels the cold wooden floor on his feet. He straightens his shirt.

A loud knock comes through the door. A lighthearted "Hoji!" is yelled through the door.

Hoji walks over to the door and opens it to finding an excited Honoka.

Honoka rushes towards Hoji in for a hug, "It's good to see you!"

Hoji awkwardly accepts the hug and says, "It's only been a week."

"And? I missed you. Plus, this time we're gonna be fighting as a full party again! Can't I be happy?!"

"I- I guess so," Hoji says as he pulls away.

Andrius sits up groggily, "H- Hoji? Who's that?"

Honoka gasps, "Oh gods, I'm so sorry. I didn't- I'll see you downstairs." Embarrassed, Honoka quickly leaves the room.

"Hoji, who- who was that?" Andrius asks again.

Hoji picks up Andrius' glasses and walks over to the bedside, "It was just Honoka."

Accepting the glasses from Hoji, Andrius yawns, "Ah, she's- she's excitable, huh?"

"Y- Yeah," Hoji brings his hand to his forearm.

Andrius stands up and stretches, "Well, I'm glad to hear that your party is here so early."

Hoji sighs, "I was hoping we would wait a little while longer."

"Wh- Why?"

"It's- I don't know- I just have a bad feeling."

"Don't say that. That's going to make me nervous."

"S- Sorry, it's- it's just a feeling."

"Well, I- I don't feel very good about this either, but we can't- we can't just let him control all those people like that."

"R- Right," Hoji's eyes stick to the ground.

The two leave out of the door and walk downstairs together. The party and the professor are in the middle of a conversation. 

Kaguya states, "Okay, if I understand this correctly, we will be going to fight an incubus. Andrius is the only one to help us gain resistance to his influence, but it requires him to be within a certain range."

The professor nods, "That is correct. We will be leaving as soon as- oh, there they are."

The group looks at Hoji and Andrius. Hoji's face scrunches into a forced smile, "H- Hey guys."

"You two slept together?" Kaguya says.

"Y- Yeah," Hoji's eyes close in anger.

Kaguya gives a little hum of approval and stands up, "Are we waiting for anything else?"

The professor stands up, "You need to tie me to the support beam."

"Wh- What?!" Honoka speaks up, "Why- Why would we do that?"

"The incubus' influence is quite strong. I succumbed to it yesterday, but if Andrius is leaving with you all, then I am defenseless."

Sumi pulls out a rope from his pack, "Which support beam?"

"This one, I'll be able to grab food from here," the professor moves towards the kitchen.

Andrius and Hoji reach the bottom of the staircase, and the two of them join the rest of the party.

Kaguya speaks up, "How does your resistance work?"

Andrius looks up, "Oh, it- it's a little complicated. Basically, the resistance I give is- it's my own influence."

Honoka raises an eyebrow, "Your influence?"

"I- I don't know how else to say it. I can break you out of the influence, as long as I feel emotionally- uh- high emotions."

Kaguya sighs, "Great, unreliability. Perfect for battle."

Andrius' hand rises to the back of his neck.

Noticing Andrius' nervousness, Hoji speaks up, "It's the best we got."

Kaguya sighs, "I suppose."

Sumi returns back to the front room, "Are we ready?"

Honoka looks up, "Are we?"

Kaguya sighs, "Ready as we'll ever be. Let's head out."

The party and Andrius start walking towards the woods with Hoji leading the way. 

Andrius walks next to Hoji, holding his hand. Andrius' grip is tight around his hand, and Andrius' tail is tightly wrapped around his thigh. The rest of the party is on alert, but Andrius' eyes exaggeratedly dart all over the place.

Eventually Hoji stops and whispers to the group, "We're nearby."

Andrius' hand grips tighter in Hoji's hand.

Hoji whispers to Andrius, "Hey, it's going to be okay. Follow my lead."

Andrius' teeth clench, and he nods. He takes a deep breath.

Hoji lets go of Andrius' hand and casts Pass Without Trace on the party, "Don't speak too loudly."

The party sneak through the thick trees, each crouching down trying to ensure that they wouldn’t be heard as they walked closer to the clearing.

The group slowly approaches the clearing. Looking above the bushes, the party sees a horrific sight.

The tall incubus sitting on a throne made of people, his hooves on top Nerissa. People stumble all over the clearing. Some of them are chopping trees. Others are whipping a variety of animals. 

Hoji has to crouch back down to avert his eyes; he cannot stand watching the animals get injured like that.

Andrius crouches next to him, grabbing his shoulder.

Hoji looks up at Andrius for a moment, before leaning into his chest.

Andrius wraps his arms around Hoji, trying his best to comfort him.

The rest of the adventuring party crouch down next to Andrius and Hoji. They all look at each other worried.

Kaguya speaks softly, "Alright, so our main goal is to save as many people as possible, which means we need to get rid of the incubus immediately.” She thinks for a moment before continuing, “Sumi, you go out there first. Mittens, you and I will follow close behind. Andrius, Hoji, Honoka, you fall behind, but not too far. It is important we stay in a group."

The group nods in agreement, before Sumi stands up.

Following close behind, Mittens and Kaguya stand behind him.

"Oh?" the incubus looks towards three of them, "Adventurers?"

The incubus looks directly into Sumi's eyes.

Sumi's head suddenly aches, and he brings his hand to his forehead

"Are you alright?" Kaguya asks.

"I'm fine," Sumi says as he readies his battle stance.

“Oh, I see my son is hiding behind you somewhere,” the incubus stands up, "Andrius! Come on out!"

Andrius' face turns to a scowl.

"Ah, right, I forgot he was raised a coward. Looks I have mistaken my son for some sort of brave adventurer," the incubus sighs, "Well, I'll have to deal with that later."

One of the villagers presents the incubus with a sword. Taking the sword, he brings it to his mouth and cuts the skin of his tongue. His blood drips all over the sword's blade, as he readies a battle stance, "Come at me!"

Sumi rushes towards the incubus with a battlecry.

The incubus retaliates by moving his sword aside, and the two of them enter a dance of blows.

Kaguya and Mittens follow close behind. Mittens forces a kick down on the incubus' face, and Kaguya tries to hit the incubus' abdomen.

The incubus manages to dodge the attacks screaming, "Is this it?!"

Honoka jumps out of the bushes and stares him down.

The incubus laughs, "Oh, another? Is my son hiding behind all of you?"

Hoji stands up out of the bushes.

“Oh, so his lover is braver than he is, huh?”

Hoji summons a large elk into the battlefield next to the incubus.

Andrius stands up, his brow furrowed as he stares up at him, “I brought help!”

“More like catalteral!”

Kaguya stabs her sword into the incubus’ side.

As the incubus grunts in pain, he turns to her and attempts to jab into Kaguya’s stomach.

Kaguya shields the stab, and Mittens jumps in front of her.

Mittens runs up the incubus’ arm and bonks him on the head with his quarterstaff.

The incubus laughs.

Sumi takes this chance to stab the incubus’ thigh, making him fall to the ground.

The large elk rams its horns into the incubus’ chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Honoka, casting Fireball, covering the entire incubus into fire but excluding her party members.

The incubus looks around. He is completely surrounded on all sides by the adventuring party.

Kaguya takes another stab at the incubus.

The incubus grabs onto Kaguya’s wrist. He smiles wickedly at her. “Thought it be that easy, huh?” the incubus laughs.

All within a moment, a sound wave starting at the incubus' mouth causes dust to kick up and spread outward.

Kaguya's legs give out. 

Mitten's eyes go blank. 

Sumi's arms fall. 

Honoka's face goes limp.

Andrius looks towards Hoji, eyes wide with terror.

Hoji looks up at Andrius, before grabbing his arm and yelling, “We need to get out of here!”

“Oh? You’re really going to try to run?” the incubus looks into Hoji’s eyes.

Hoji grips onto his horn as his head completely rings out in pain.

Andrius grabs onto Hoji’s arm, “Hoji, stay with me!” Turning to look back at the incubus, without thinking, Andrius quickly starts running back into the tree line.

It is not long before they are both running through the trees -- dodging branches and jumping rocks.

Quickly, Hoji feels the pain in his head go away. He pants as they keep running without direction.

Andrius is leading, but Hoji quickly runs in front of him.

Hoji pulls on Andrius’ wrist, as he starts leading them out of the forest, with Andrius tripping behind him.

The incubus starts to give chase. He is laughing a maniacal laugh, “Funny how you think you can escape!”

Hoji and Andrius weave and twist through the trees, until Hoji feels Andrius' hand suddenly slip.

Andrius thuds onto the ground. He tries to regain his footing, but the incubus steps on his back, forcing his face down into the dirt.

"Andrius!" Hoji quickly turns around.

"Oh, look at the poor little lover boy," the incubus grinds his hoof into Andrius' back.

“Don’t hurt him!”

“So what if I do?!”

Hoji yells a battlecry before bringing his hands to cast Tidal Wave.

“Oh? Are you sure you want to do that?”

Hoji quickly looks down at Andrius and back up to the incubus. Bringing his hands down, he hangs his head in shame.

“H- Hoji,” Andrius says as he tries to look up.

“Shut up,” the incubus presses his hoof harder down into Andrius’ back.

Andrius grunts in pain, trying his best to keep his breath steady.

A yell came through the trees, “Hoji!”

Hoji turns towards the yell. 

Mittens stands there with the party surrounding him. "Hoji! We need to get out of here!" he yells from the trees.

Hoji turns back to Andrius and turns back to the party. Hoji looks down at Andrius' pained face.

"Oh? The lover boy is contemplating a tough decision? Well, I'll strike you a deal,” the incubus smiles wickedly.

"Wh- What?! The- The answer is no!" Hoji yells, clutching his fists.

"Yet you are not running away," the incubus moves his hoof to step on Andrius' horns.

Andrius can feel his skull be pushed down into the dirt. He writhes in pain and lets out a pain scream.

Hoji gasps and kneels down next to Andrius.

“More willing to hear me out now?” the incubus smiles wickedly.

Hoji looks up at him with a scowl, “What do you want?!”

The incubus smirks and presses his hoof down on Andrius’ skull, "Here's the deal: You help keep the animals in line, and I won't kill your lover."

Andrius yells in pain, as he tries his best to breathe.

"I-" Hoji looks towards the party and back at Andrius. His eyes dart back and forth, before he grabs his horns and closes his eyes tight.

"So, lover boy? What will it be?"

Hoji opens his eyes and looks towards the party again. His eyes glue to the ground as he faces the incubus, "D- Deal."

"Hoji-" Andrius yells before getting his head stuffed more into the dirt.

The incubus smiles maniacally and brings his hand out for a handshake, “Glad you saw it my way.”

Hoji accepts the handshake, feeling his hand getting burned. He grunts in pain, as the searing heat on his palm worsens as the incubus’ hand grows tighter around Hoji’s hand.

Hoji takes his hand away. He palm reads something in infernal. He stares at it for a moment before closing his hand into a fist.

"I knew you'd come around," the incubus smiles as he takes his hoof off of Andrius' head and raises his fist.

"Don't hurt him!" Hoji yells.

Andrius lifts his head in an effort to get away, but before his chin is off of the ground something heavy thuds on the back of his skull.


	12. Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up in a cellar, Andrius attempts to grasp the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the point in which I stopped editing, so there may be a drop of quality starting now.

Andrius wakes up in a cold sweat. His head aches. He is in a cold and dark cellar. He is laying down on a bedroll. When he lifts his arm, he hears a chain rise with it. Andrius pulls at the chain; it is attached to the ground. He sits up.

The door slowly opens. Hoji's eyes are glued to the ground as he stepped inside.

"Hoji!" Andrius yells.

"Andrius!" he runs towards Andrius and kneels down to give him a hug.

Andrius hugs Hoji with his free arm, and the two of them enjoy each other's embrace for a moment.

Pulling away, Hoji asks, "Are you okay?"

Andrius looks up at Hoji, "Y- Yeah. I just- I just have a headache is all."

Hoji sighs in relief, "That's good."

"B- But are you okay? The last thing I remember- it- it wasn't good."

Hoji's eyes dart around the floor, and his hand reaches to his forearm, "I’m- I'm sorry. I... I didn't know what else to do."

Andrius placed his hand on Hoji's, "It's okay."

Hoji grips Andrius' palm, "You’ve... You've been asleep for two days."

"Two days?!"

"Two days...” Hoji’s eyes well up.

Andrius sits up and puts his hand on Hoji’s shoulder, "What… What happened to your party?"

"I- I don't- I don't know. The last I saw of them was... was before I made the deal."

Andrius looks at Hoji worriedly, "They… They haven't come back yet?"

Hoji shakes his head, his eyes still glued to the floor.

Andrius leans in close, wrapping his arms around Hoji.

Hoji hugs Andrius, placing his head on Andrius’ shoulder as a tear flows down his face, "I’m- I'm just glad you're okay."

Andrius does his best to reassure Hoji as he cries into his chest. Hearing quiet drops of water drip from the ceiling, Andrius asks, "Wh- Where are we?"

Hoji sniffles before leaning away from Andrius to look at him. Tears still in his eyes, he says, "The incubus brought us here two days ago… We’re nearby the wolf’s den..."

“In the middle of the forest?”

“Yeah… We’re underground… in an old storm shelter.”

"Is there a way out?"

"Y- Yeah, I just came back from working all day…” Hoji wipes his tears, “He lets me out freely, but…” Hoji looks at Andrius’ shackle.

Lifting his wrist, Andrius looks at the metal cuff and sighs, “I see…”

Hoji grabs onto Andrius forearm and squeezes it tight, “Sorry…”

Andrius frowns, placing his hand back down onto the ground, “He lets you out of here so that you can work for him?”

“Yeah…” Hoji sighs, “He… He knows that I won’t leave.”

Andrius looks down at Hoji, "I- I hope he hasn't been forcing you to do anything too bad."

"He doesn't. He knows I'll get things done at this point…”

Andrius kisses Hoji's forehead.

Hoji sighs, "I'm going to have to go outside again tomorrow."

"That's tomorrow."

"R- Right," Hoji stuffs his face into Andrius’ chest, “I love you…”

Andrius combs his fingers through Hoji’s hair, “I love you too…”

After a peaceful night of knowing Andrius is okay, Hoji wakes up with a spark of anger. Getting out of the bedroll, he stands up and walks towards the door.

The incubus stands tauntingly in the middle of the central room, tapping his hoof on the ground, "You've slept in late."

"Shut up," Hoji says dismissively.

The incubus hums in frustration, "Andrius awake? I heard you two smashing last night. I'll be completely honest, your moans are distasteful."

Hoji quickly steps outside angrily.

The incubus follows Hoji up the ladder. Once the two of them stand in the morning sun, the incubus says, "I'm going to need you to lead the people to chop those trees down."

Hoji sighs, "Which trees?"

"The ones over there," the incubus points to a particularly dense set of trees near the edge of the clearing.

"I'm going to have to do extra work for those trees."

"Do you think I care? Do it."

Hoji sighs and walks over to the trees.

The incubus walks back into the stone bunker. He walks over to the room Andrius is in and knocks.

Andrius has already woken up. Leaning over his bag, he checks the contents to ensure that he still has all of his stuff. He looks over towards the door, "Hoji?"

"No, your father," the incubus says before opening the door.

Andrius looks up at him, "You better not be hurting Hoji."

The incubus chuckles, "And what are you going to do if I do?"

Andrius' brow furrows, "Nothing you'd like."

"Oh, such threatening words from the one who ran away from a fight."

Andrius turns towards his bag, trying his best to ignore the incubus all together.

"Hah! Of course you don't want to admit the coward you are!" the incubus mocks before taking a step closer.

Andrius quietly shifts through his bag, looking for something.

The incubus steps closer and closer towards Andrius, his hooves clacking on the stone floor.

Andrius keeps rummaging through the bag until he feels something rough.

The incubus steps closer, closing the distance between them.

In one motion, Andrius pulls out a dagger from his bag and slams his back against the cold stone wall. He shakily holds the dagger with both of his hands, looking up at his father.

The incubus picks up his hoof and kicks the dagger out of Andrius hands, "No different from two days ago I see. I was actually going to free you from the shackles."

"What?!"

"Yes, but you don't seem like you'd want to respect your father -- so it looks as though you're not leaving this room," the incubus turns his back on Andrius, "Oh well, looks like I'll just have to find Hoji. He's much more fun anyway."

"W- Wait," Andrius pleads.

The incubus looked over his shoulder, "Oh? Willing to speak now?"

"What have you been doing to Hoji?"

The incubus turns around to look at Andrius, "Oh, nothing. Just capturing his lover to control him, watching him stomp around the clearing, influencing him -- you know the usual."

"What?! You've been influencing him?!"

The incubus chuckles, "Yes, what are you going to do about it? Use your puny little influence on him? The one you can barely control? The one that allowed me to influence all of your friends? Don't make me laugh."

Andrius' face turns to a scowl, but he doesn’t respond to the incubus’ laughs.

The door behind the incubus swings open.

Looking behind him, the incubus laughs, “Ah! We were just talking about you!”

Hoji stands there nervously, holding several owl chicks.

“It seems that you have broken our agreement again,” the incubus begins to stomp towards Hoji.

"Sir, it's not-" Hoji pleads, holding the chicks close to his chest.

The incubus continues to stomp towards Hoji.

Hoji backs up until his back hits the wall.

The incubus slams his hand against the wall above Hoji's shoulder.

Hoji twitches as he holds the chicks tight in his arms.

The incubus leans into Hoji, kissing him.

"You bastard!" Andrius yells as he tries to run towards the incubus only to be stopped by his shackle.

When the incubus pulls away, he wipes the blood from his mouth.

Hoji falls to the ground, trying his best to hold the owl chicks in his arms as he coughs up blood. The mixture of blood and saliva slowly drips onto the cold stone flooring, as Hoji desperately tries to keep the owl chicks near his stomach.

The incubus looks at Andrius' worried face and back to Hoji's collapsed body. With once begun as a small giggle under his breath, the incubus starts to slowly build up a laugh until the sound of the laugh starts to ring in Andrius' ears.

Hoji clutches the small chicks as he falls over to his side, struggling to breathe.

The incubus' laugh abruptly stops, "Don't bring any more animals into this room." He kneels down and picks up the chicks one by one.

Hoji's arm raises, begging for the incubus to stop. His efforts are meaningless.

"If I find you doing this again, I will make it hurt more than this time," the incubus says before he slammed the door behind him with all the chicks in hand.

"Hoji?!" Andrius yells towards Hoji’s collapsed body.

Between painful breaths Hoji manages to say, "A- Andri- Andrius?"

Andrius tries to pull himself closer, but the shackle around his wrist doesn't allow it. 

Hoji's eyes began to close.

Andrius screams and yells towards Hoji, but to no avail.

With the last of his energy, Hoji's mouth slowly open, "C- Cu- Cure W- Woun- Wounds."

Within a few seconds, Hoji's breathing starts to stabilize, and he picks himself up, blood still dripping from his mouth.

"H- Hoji?" Andrius says, concerned.

"I'm- I'm okay," Hoji says before coughing into his hand.

Looking down at Hoji's hand, Andrius see blood covering almost the entirety of his palm, "Hoji, you- you aren't okay!"

Hoji looks down at his hand and closes it, "I have to be okay!"

"But you're not!"

Hoji slowly stands up, holding his arm up, "I- I have to be okay."

Andrius tries to look into Hoji's eyes, but Hoji turns away from him.

Hoji sighs, "I- I don't think you're getting it, Andrius."

"Wh- What?"

"He's not- He's not going to kill me, as long- as long as I'm useful to him. I- I just need to hold out just- just a little longer."

"But you're hurt now!"

Hoji quickly looks up and yells, "That's not the point, Andrius!"

"Then what is the point, if he's just going to hurt you like that?!"

"Keeping you safe!" Hoji yells, his voice echoing inside the small stone room.

Andrius looks at Hoji worriedly.

Hoji looks at the ground, "I- I have to return to work. He- He's expecting me."

Andrius reaches a hand to stop Hoji, but it doesn't reach far enough. 

Left alone, Andrius’ vision darkens as the door closes.

Andrius looks at his shackle and sighs. 

Sitting down next to the bedroll, Andrius waits. He can't do anything else.

Andrius looks down at his hands. The shackle feels tight around his list. His brow furrows. His hands curl into fists. Has this been going on for two days?! How many times was Hoji punished like that?! Hoji can't endure another kiss like that! How is Hoji so sure that bastard won't kill him?! How come he's been torturing Hoji?! He's already getting what he wants! What is his purpose of trying to bring Hoji at the brink of death for him to only return back to work minutes later?! Two days. It's been two days this has been happening! How many times has Hoji knelt over in pain because of him?! How many times has Hoji healed himself to stay alive? How many times has it been?! 

Andrius stands up. This can't continue. 

Hoji was just trying to protect the animals! 

Hoji was just trying to protect the forest!

"Hoji was just trying to protect me..." Andrius says aloud in a soft voice.

His angry stance quickly fades. Looking down at his shackle, he feels his stomach sink. He cannot imagine how much stress Hoji is in. He sits back down, feeling his chest ache.

He’s not sure how long passes. Curling in the bedroll, he feels his stomach rumble. 

Hoji opens the door, his mouth dripping with fresh blood. Wiping some of it off of his face, he tries to steady his breath, before leaning forward and coughing into his hand.

"Hoji?" Andrius sits up.

Hoji looks at Andrius, his eyes bloodshot. Slowly falling to the ground, a drop of blood drips down his chin.

Silently Andrius watches as Hoji sits next to him.

Hoji doesn’t speak, but he doesn’t need to. He curls up next to Andrius, placing his head on Andrius' shoulder.

Andrius looks at him with worried eyes, wrapping his arm around him.

"I want this to be over," Hoji says, squeezing Andrius' hand tight.

"I do too," Andrius responds. Closing his eyes, he places his chin on Hoji’s head, "When do you think your party is coming back?"

"I-" Hoji pauses for a moment, "I- I don't know if they're coming back."

"They'll come back."

"I- I know, but... it's been three days. I just wonder if… if they'd forgotten about me."

"Why would you think that? Didn't you all defeat some crazy monsters together?"

"Y- Yeah, but we haven't done that in almost two months now. I worry that I don't... I don't belong with them anymore."

"Aren't you their healer?"

"Y- Yeah, but-" silence sits heavy for a moment before Hoji fills it, "I don't know."

"They need you, Hoji… They’re taking a long time because they’re trying to compensate for their lack of a healer..."

"I… I guess..." Hoji moves in closer to Andrius' chest.

Andrius tries to reassure Hoji for the rest of the night, eventually the two of them fall asleep in each other’s arms. 

When Andrius wakes up, Hoji is gone. Sitting up, Andrius looks down at his wrist. Still shackled to the ground, he sighs. Staring up at the ceiling, he finds himself worrying about Hoji again. 

A few minutes pass, before the incubus opens the door, his hooves clacking on the stone floor. He claps his hands together, creating an echo through the stone room, "Andrius!"

Andrius groans, his face turning into a scowl.

The incubus rolls his eyes and walks over to Andrius, "If you're going to keep being an asshole about it."

Watching the incubus cross the room, Andrius feels his hands curl into fists, “Don’t fucking touch Hoji.”

The incubus rolls his eyes. Raising his hoof, he brings it down forcefully onto Andrius' forehead.


	13. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Help is on it's way -- hopefully!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: descriptions of wounds/gore

Lyrica stands up.

Jandor looks up, "Lyrie?"

Lyrica doesn't turn back. Adjusting her glasses, she states, "I'm going."

"You can't just leave!" Jandor stands up, "We have to stay here and keep creating scrolls."

"I can't… I can't just stay here and keep making scrolls!"

"This- This is the only way we can help, Lyrica!" Jandor pleads, "Just please, come back and sit back down."

"You're not getting it, Jandor."

"What am I not getting?! You want to help Andrius as much -- maybe even more -- than I do!"

"I can't keep waiting."

"You don't mean-"

Lyrica quickly stomps her foot to turn back towards Jandor, "I said I can't keep waiting."

Jandor steps towards her, "I- I understand, but... but you can't just go now! It would be a death sentence!"

"I don't care," Lyrica's fists clench, "I'm going!"

Jandor grabs onto Lyrica's shoulder. His eyes worriedly look towards the professor and the adventuring party. His face turns to a frown as he turns back to see a tear roll down Lyrica's face. He sighs, "When?"

"What?"

"I'm not going to let you go now. We need more Dispel Magic scrolls."

"You're- You're going to help me?"

"He's my friend too."

***

Andrius wakes up to find himself handcuffed to a pole. His head aches as he grabs his forehead. He’s outside. The sun shines bright in Andrius' eyes, finding himself laying in pressed down dirt and pushed down grass.

Hoji's eyes light up as he sees Andrius sit up. His eyes welling up with tears, Hoji runs over to Andrius.

Andrius gets up the best he can with one of his hands tied, successfully standing up before Hoji is next to him.

“Oh thank gods!” Hoji pulls Andrius in for a hug, "I was worried you would be passed out for another two days."

Andrius hugs Hoji with his free arm, "How long was I out?"

"Only a couple hours, I think,” Hoji pushes his face into Andrius’ chest, “Thank goodness it wasn’t any longer.

The incubus' hooves stomp down hard in the dirt, as he approaches the two of them, "Hoji, get back to work!"

Hoji breaks off from the hug, feeling his shoulders tense up, "Yes... sir."

Andrius watches as Hoji slowly walks away, as he feels daggers from the incubus' glare.

The incubus pulls on Andrius' collar to make Andrius face towards him, "Listen up!"

Andrius' scowl returns, and feels his hand raise out of instinct. Before realizing it, Andrius punches the incubus in the stomach, causing the incubus to stumble back.

Insulted, the incubus clicks his tongue, "Is that how you're going to treat your father?" Quickly recovering, the incubus raises his fist.

Feeling the full force of the incubus' punch on his jaw, Andrius falls to the ground, his arm pulled by the handcuff.

The incubus sighs, "You are the worst hostage I've ever had, you know that?"

"Good!" Andrius yells back.

"I can and will put you back to sleep, if you do that again."

Andrius doesn't respond, scowl remains on his face.

"Oh, now you're paying attention. How about this: you help me and I'll help you."

"I don't want your help, asshole!"

The incubus rolls his eyes, "If you help influence these people, I will free you."

"What?"

"Yes, I will free you. How does that sound?"

"Wh- What about Hoji?"

"Oh, don't worry about Hoji," the incubus' mouth curls into a malicious smile, "He'll be just fine."

Andrius' face turns sour as he watches the incubus turn around and walk away laughing maniacally.

Andrius stands up and struggles with handcuffs.

It isn't that long until the sky turns a dark red. Andrius sits there, refusing to do anything. He watches Hoji as he would enter the trees and come back out hours later.

Hoji takes quick glances at Andrius every time he comes back through the trees, as if he wanted to ensure Andrius was still there when he came back. He sighs in relief before returning back to work leading people and climbing trees.

It isn't until the sun has completely set before Hoji approaches Andrius.

Andrius looks up in excitement as he watches Hoji excitedly jog towards him.

Andrius lets Hoji jump into his arms.

Hoji stuffs his face into Andrius' chest, his horns hitting Andrius' ribs.

Andrius surrounds Hoji with his arms, despite Hoji being covered in dirt and leaves.

"I hope being handcuffed on that pole hasn't been too bad," Hoji says quietly.

"It's been better," Andrius says, leaning close to Hoji.

Hoji breaks away, "I don't- I don't think the incubus is releasing you from the handcuffs."

Andrius groans, "Of course he isn't -- what an asshole."

"I'll bring the bedroll, okay?"

"Okay," Andrius says as he watches Hoji walk away.

Andrius stands there waiting, breathing in the cold summer air.

Hoji quickly returns from the bunker with the bedroll. He lays it out as close to the poll as he can.

"Thanks, Hoji," Andrius says as he helps Hoji spread the bed roll out.

"I don't want you to get cold," Hoji says before climbing in under the furs.

Andrius lays down as best as he can with his wrist attached to the poll.

Hoji calmly lays on Andrius' shoulder.

Watching Hoji’s eyes slowly close, Andrius brings him closer. Kissing his forehead, he says under his breath, “I promise to get us out of this.”

***

Lyrica and Jandor slowly follow a group of blankly staring people. They weave through the forest, following a newly pressed down path.

Nudging Jandor, Lyrica whispers, “I think that clearing up ahead is where the incubus is.”

“You think? I can practically smell the gross garbage pile,” Jandor whispers back.

Lyrica focuses her vision to the clearing ahead of them, “Looks like all the people are just laying down in a pile.”

“Weird.”

“We need to sleep in the pile.”

“What?!”

Lyrica pushes her hands onto Jandor’s mouth and shushes him, “We’re on a stealth mission, idiot.”

Jandor pushes her hands off of his face, whispering, “Why the hell do we need to sleep in the pile?”

“So that he can think we’re just another one of his mindless zombies.”

“How is that going to help us?”

Lyrica points her hand towards the bedroll in the middle of the clearing, “That’s Andrius’ horns.”

***

Andrius wakes up alone, his wrist still attached to the pole, his eyes blinded by the bright morning sun.

The incubus leans over Andrius, his shadow consuming the sun's rays.

"What do you want?" Andrius says with a stinging tang in his voice.

"For you to cut down the trees at the edge of the clearing," the incubus quickly snaps back.

"Like I’m going to do that," Andrius sits up.

“You’re going to regret saying that,” the incubus flicks his tail.

As the incubus walks away, Andrius feels heat rise in his chest. Standing up, Andrius looks towards the edge of the clearing, where a large pile of people lay. “He wants me to use those people…?” Andrius mumbles angrily under his breath.

Looking around the clearing, he sees the incubus and Hoji talking to each other.

Hoji looks pissed, barely looks like he is listening to the incubus as he talks. After the incubus finishes whatever he was saying, Hoji starts yelling at him. Aggressively pointing and shouting, he looks as if he’s about to snap.

The incubus grabs Hoji’s wrist tight, and a fearful expression washes over Hoji’s face. Pulling him, the incubus easily moves Hoji into the bunker.

Andrius watches in horror, desperately trying to escape from his handcuffs.

“Pst, Andrius,” Jandor whispers.

Andrius puts his free arm down, turning towards Jandor. With glowing yellow eyes and his brow furrowed, Andrius’ hands curl into fists, “I swear to all the gods in existence, if you’re going to ask me what I want you to do, I’m going to smash someone’s skull into the ground so hard that it crumbles.”

“What the fuck?” Jandor whispers.

“Jandor?” Andrius’ scowl quickly leaves his face, “Oh, thank gods!”

After being pulled into an unexpected hug, Jandor awkwardly pats Andrius’ back and whispers, “Andrius…”

“Oh!” Andrius quickly lets go, “Um- Right…”

Jandor sighs, “We don’t have much time, Andrius.”

Lyrica steps forward, “Yeah, we don’t know how long the incubus is going to be in that bunker.”

Andrius turns towards the bunker’s entrance. Guilt overwhelms his thoughts. Hoji’s in there. Who knows what the incubus is doing to him. Andrius’ shoulders droop, and he feels his gaze return to the floor.

“Andrius!” Lyrica yells, “Get a hold of yourself!”

Andrius steps back at Lyrica’s loud yelling, “Right.”

Lyrica gives him a worried look before looking around. Spotting an axe nearby, she grabs it. She yells, “Move your arm so I can chop the chain!”

“Wait! Lyrica, we can’t do that!”

“What are you talking about?!” Jandor yells, “We need to get you out of here!”

“What about Hoji?!”

Lyrica and Jandor exchange worried looks. Lyrica adjusts her glasses, “I… I suppose we are here to help him too…”

“You saw him get taken down into that bunker by the incubus, right?”

“Yeah…”

“I’m… I’m afraid he might be hurt…” Andrius’ eyes gaze across the clearing, “The incubus hasn’t exactly been nice to him…”

“Well, duh! He’s a demon!” Jandor sighs, “But he’s just as dangerous to us as he is to Hoji, I’m not sure if we’re much help.”

“Can we try?!” Andrius’ voice sounds a little coarse, “I… We can’t just leave him!”

Lyrica adjusts her glasses, “Andrius… We are useless if the incubus controls us. We can’t get near him. How are we going to help Hoji?”

“I… I can distract him… You two can get into the bunker… I have a dagger in there... If I could get the incubus close enough to me, I could attack him when he’s least expecting it.”

“What kind of plan is that?” Jandor crosses his arms, “Aren’t we trying to help Hoji?”

“Y- Yes… But, all of you can get caught up in the incubus’ influence. I’m the only one who can possibly stop his concentration by attacking him. If influence stops, even if for a few minutes, you can all get out of here.”

“What about you?” Lyrica looks up at Andrius, “You need to get out of here too…”

Andrius rubs the nape of his neck, “I… I suppose so…”

“Look, I don’t know if we’re going to have another opportunity to do this,” Lyrica pulls up the axe again, “I’ll break the chain now, and you can hide your hand!”

“Lyrica, are you sure that’s the best idea?!”

Before Andrius could get another word in, Lyrica raises the axe over her head.

Andrius jumps, pulling his arm as far away from the pole as he could. His hand clutches into a fist as he feels the metal of the handcuff dig into his skin.

With a large swing down, a loud clang breaks out through the clearing. None of the workers turn to look, but Jandor worriedly watches as the axe pierces the ground.

With his arm free, Andrius pulls his hand away from the pole and sighs, “Lyrie, I wasn’t ready yet…”

Lyrica laughs nervously, “Sorry, but-”

Before Lyrica is able to continue, she sees Hoji stumble out of the bunker.

Lyrica’s back straightens. Adjusting her glasses to sit flat on her face, she states, “Yes. Of course, Andrius. I will get to it right away.”

Jandor’s shoulders tense up before quickly following suit, “We’re on it.”

Andrius quickly places his hand next to the pole, trying his best to keep it out of view of the bunker, “Um… Good!”

As Jandor and Lyrica turn around to mechanically walk towards the tree line, Andrius turns to look at the bunker.

Hoji trips, making his chest hit the ground hard. The incubus steps out of the bunker. With his face in a scowl, he looks down at Hoji with shame, “That’s really your limit, huh?!”

Hoji places his hands flat onto the ground, trying his best to lift himself back up. Before Hoji is an inch off the ground, the incubus steps his hoof directly in the middle of Hoji’s back. Coughing again, Hoji collapses, the pain becoming unbearable.

After a couple of deep breaths, Hoji manages to pound his fist into the ground, pulling himself up, despite the incubus pushing him down. The incubus huffs in response, taking his hoof off of Hoji’s back. Raising his hoof, the incubus stares down at Hoji.

Hoji shakily turns his head to look up at the incubus. Bringing himself up, Hoji fails to notice the incubus’ hoof still raised in the air.

The incubus laughs, before bringing his hoof down with considerable force onto the back of Hoji’s head.

Hoji’s arms give out. His laid body, unable to move more than a few shivers, tries its best to breathe.

The incubus sighs, before turning to Andrius.

Andrius looks at him worriedly, trying his best to keep the incubus from seeing his free arm.

An eyebrow raises on the incubus’ face. Stepping on top of Hoji’s back as he walks towards Andrius, the incubus says, “You seem a bit nervous.”

Andrius laughs nervously, making sure his hand is behind him at all times. 

The incubus steps leaning his head close to look into Andrius’ eyes.

Andrius looks over the incubus’ shoulder to see Jandor stepping past Hoji, and Lyrica trying to pick him up.

“Afraid now, are you?” the incubus takes his head back and smiles a wicked smile, “Glad you’ve finally come to your senses.”

Andrius’ teeth clenches, as he feels rage start to build up in his chest, “As if I’d be afraid of you.”

“Oh? You were just sweating bullets just a second ago. This is an interesting development,” the incubus’ eyebrows lower, “I suppose it isn’t me who you’re worried about, is it?”

Andrius looks up at him angrily, wanting so badly to punch him in the face, but he just needs to distract him for a little longer. Andrius grabs onto the collar of the incubus’ shirt, “Don’t do that again!”

The incubus looks at him with fear in his eyes.

Andrius looks at him angrier than before, “If you do that again, I’ll… I’ll-”

The incubus quickly rises, his fearful demeanor quickly disappearing as he breaks out into laughter, “Hah! You don’t even know what you’ll do!”

“I- I don’t know! All I know is that- is that it won’t be pretty!”

The incubus laughs a wicked laugh, “Sure.”

Andrius looks over the incubus shoulder, seeing Jandor pulling up a bag out of the bunker and Lyrica successfully healing Hoji enough to stand up. Looking back at the incubus, Andrius scowls, “Don’t make fun of me!”

The incubus laughs, “Such childish words for a tiefling so large.”

Andrius shoulders drop. He sighs, at least knowing that he’ll be able to stick him into his place soon.

The incubus laughs in his face more, before finally getting tired of Andrius’ defeated gaze. Turning around, the incubus looks as Hoji struggles to stand up. Walking towards him, his hooves press down the dirt hard. Grabbing Hoji’s horn, the incubus shakes him.

Hoji looks distressed, almost falling down from incubus’ shaking.

Throwing Hoji to the side, the incubus demands, “Get back to work.”

Hoji sighs, before standing up to the best of his ability.

Andrius looks around desperately looking for Jandor and Lyrica. Seeing Jandor hiding behind the bunker and Lyrica in a nearby tree, Andrius feels a little relieved. All he can really do is wait for them to approach him, so he turns back to the incubus.

Watching the incubus closely as he moves back up to his throne-like chair of people, Andrius moves to ensure he doesn’t see the broken handcuff.

Hours pass. The evening sun falls in the sky, washing the clearing in orange and reds. As the night approaches, the incubus goes into the bunker alone.

With him gone, even for a couple of minutes, Jandor and Lyrica approach Andrius again.

Jandor quickly places Andrius’ bag onto the ground next to him, “I hope your plan works.”

Lyrica stabs him with her elbow, “Don’t be like that, Jandor. It’s the best we got!”

Andrius laughs a little. It’s nice to know that Jandor and Lyrica are still the same. Putting his hand into the bag, he feels around to find his sheathed dagger.

Hoji steps back into the clearing.

Andrius takes out the dagger from his bag, before turning towards Hoji from across the clearing. Smiling, he raises his handcuffed hand in the air. Pointing at it, his mouth curls into a smile.

Hoji looks back in disbelief. He smiles, but something not genuine. His smile is looking forward to something disastrous. However, Hoji quickly puts his hand over his mouth, as if he’s realized he’s done something wrong.

As Jandor and Lyrica look up at Hoji, he quickly pulls his hand down to reveal a hopeful weak smile.

The bunker’s door slams open.

Hoji’s shoulders jolt, before his entire body tightens. Unable to move, he awaits for the worst.

The incubus’ eyes lock onto Hoji. Stomping towards him, his brow furrows.

Hoji steps back, but is unable to run away. His legs can’t move. His eyes staring at the incubus as he gets closer.

Jandor and Lyrica quickly slink away, trying their best to hide themselves from the incubus’ line of sight.

Placing his hand behind him, Andrius’ grip tightens on the handle of the dagger. Feeling his head start to get hot with anger, he carefully watches as the incubus steps closer to Hoji.

The incubus grabs onto Hoji’s collar. His eyes wild with anger. Spitting onto Hoji’s face, he yells, “Why aren’t you working?! You know how important it is for you to keep working!”

Hoji nervously looks towards Andrius.

The incubus turns towards Andrius. The whites of his eyes red and bloodshot, the incubus yells, “You look confident in yourself!”

Andrius’ jaw tightens, his brow furrowing. Looking above the lens of his glasses, his instincts kick in. Watching as his father approaches, the hatred that has been brewing within him finally focuses on this moment of time.

As the incubus steps closer, he looks down at Andrius, almost disappointed. Grabbing onto the collar of Andrius’ shirt, he pulls his hand up over his shoulder. Clenching his hand into a fist, he looks into Andrius’ eyes, "You are the cause of this! You are the one who’s forced me to do this!"

Andrius stares into the incubus' eyes, his face a scowl and his voice rough as he says, "You’ve done this to yourself!”

Before the incubus could force down his fist, Andrius pulls the dagger from behind his back. Stabbing true into the incubus’ stomach, he twists it.

Blood from the dagger drips onto the pressed down dirt. He struggles for breaths as he asks, "A- An- Andri- dri- drius?"

Andrius watches as the incubus' illusion disappears, looking directly into Hoji’s hazel eyes.


	14. Hoji...?

Hoji struggles to breathe.

Andrius quickly pulls the knife from Hoji’s chest.

Clutching onto Andrius’ collar, Hoji’s legs start to give out.

Andrius tries his best to hold up Hoji, as blood runs down onto the dirt. His breathing gets heavy as he wraps his arms around Hoji, “H- Hoji…?”

“Andri… Andrius…” Hoji whispers as he slowly falls to his knees.

Trying his best to hold Hoji in his arms, his breathing starts to struggle.

Hoji’s legs give out, leaving Andrius to hold him up as blood pours out of his wound.

Shaking him, Andrius yells, "Hoji?! I- No- This is happening! I- I didn't stab you! I- I didn't- You can't die! I can't be the one who kills you! I- I love you! No! I- You're not supposed to die like this! You can't die like this!" Andrius yelled, "We were- We were going to get out of this -- together! Don't die! You can't die! We- We only- We still have our lives! Don't-"

Hoji chokes as he speaks, "A- An- Andri- dri- drius. Pl- Plea- ease, r- ru- run."

"I'm not running! You- You can't die!" Andrius puts him down, putting pressure on Hoji’s wound, "We're- We're getting through this -- together!"

Hoji struggles to get air, "Pl- Plea- ease."

"No! I told you, I'm not running Hoji! You're- You're not dying here! I'm going to help you! I'm going to save you! Please, Hoji, you can't just-"

Hoji smiles weakly, “This… isn’t like last time…”

A tear rolls down Andrius’ face as he uses his entire body weight to hold down Hoji’s wound.

“It will be like last time! We- We can get out of here!” 

With the last of his energy, Hoji’s hand rises.

Tears roll on Andrius' face, he feels his throat start to tighten and twist as he looks into Hoji’s eyes.

Hoji rubs his thumb across Andrius’ cheek. Lifting his head the best he could, he places his lips onto his.

Andrius’ eyes stay wide as Hoji does everything he can to make this moment last forever.

Hoji pulls away.

Andrius’ face full of tears and unable to move, he remains silent.

“I… I love you…”


	15. Denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I'm not even sure if this book is even coherent at this point.

_Hoji_ laughs from across the clearing, "What a dramatic scene! Almost brought me to tears!"

Andrius stares down at his blood soaked hands.

 _Hoji’s_ illusion quickly drops across the clearing. Laughing, the incubus yells, "I can’t believe you fell for that!”

Andrius' chest feels tight, his breaths struggling as he stares down as he stares at Hoji's blood on his hands. His jaw starts to tremble, tears still rolling down his face. He feels his hands clench, his claws piercing into his palm.

"Easiest tricks in the book! Easy to detect, yet you didn’t!" the incubus mocks.

Andrius feels his chest heat up. His vision starts to blur, and his breath feels hot as it leaves his mouth. He can’t think. Rage overwhelms his entire being.

"If I were you, I would have checked for this way before-"

Andrius cuts the incubus off, "Shut up."

"You're going to have to speak a little louder than that, son!" the incubus laughs.

"I said," Andrius turns to face the incubus, "Shut up!"

The ground quivers beneath Andrius feet as the sound of his yell echoes through the clearing.

"Oh, so scary, what are you going to do?” the incubus fakes a desperate face, “Kill me with your pathetic screams?"

Andrius' ears are ringing. He sees the incubus mouth move, but he doesn’t hear him.

Standing up, the bloodied dagger in his hand falls to the ground.

The blade bounces off the ground, trembling as its handle hits the ground hard.

Andrius steps to the axe that Lyrica left behind. Picking it up, the handle feels heavy in his hands. He turns towards the incubus, his eyes unable to see anything but him.

"Oh? Going to finally fight like a man?" the incubus smiles, "Let's dance then."

Andrius roars as he rushes towards his father. His vision is almost pure white as he runs towards him, only being able to see the blurry outline of the incubus. He doesn’t care. Once he gets close enough, he swings the axe as hard down as he can, trying to hit whatever he could see in front of him.

The incubus grunts in pain as the axe's blade manages to dig into his shoulder, “Wow! Can’t believe you had this in you!”

Andrius doesn’t hear a word the incubus says, pulling the axe from the incubus shoulder.

“Ignoring me, are you?!” the incubus yells.

Andrius raises the axe over his head, he quickly swings it into the incubus again.

This time hitting his abdomen, the axe's blade cuts deep through the incubus' skin. "Hey, watch it!" the incubus yells.

Andrius is quick to pull the axe out of the incubus. Just barely enough to hear, he says, "You- You made me kill Hoji."

"Oh? Finally on speaking terms again?" the incubus says, as blocks the third blow with his forearm.

The axe cracks the incubus’ bones, and Andrius quickly pulls it back, before letting out a roar of rage. He swings down the axe into the incubus' chest.

The incubus' collarbone breaks, as he grabs onto the handle of the axe, "Whoa. Hey, hey, that was a little overkill."

Andrius isn’t listening. He quickly pulls the axe out of his collarbone, flesh and blood sticking onto the blade he lifted it.

The incubus kicks Andrius away.

Andrius stumbles back but quickly recovers, "You- You killed Hoji."

Clutching his sagging arm, the incubus comments, "No, that was you. I remember. It was only a minute ago. You couldn't possibly forget so soon. I remember when I first took mine. Oh, memories."

"You- You-" Andrius lifts his head, "You made me kill him!"

The ground beneath the incubus feet shakes with the sound of Andrius’ voice, causing him to fall over.

Andrius quickly runs over to the incubus. Pinning him to the ground, Andrius lifts the axe high into the night sky.

The incubus raises his hands in surrender, "Wait! I need to finish my project! I need to-"

Andrius' voice is a deep growl, "You killed Hoji."

The blade swings perfectly into the incubus' neck. Cutting deep, Andrius watches as thick black blood splatters across the dust and pressed down grass.

“An- Andrius?” Lyrica peaks out from behind a tree.

Andrius looks up, pulling the axe out of the incubus’ neck.

“Andrius, are you okay?” Lyrica steps out into the clearing.

Whispering his words under his breath, Andrius feels his breath start to quicken again, “Why did you let me do that?”

“What?”

Andrius looks up, his gaze straight towards Lyrica, “Why did you let me do that?”

“Do what?!” Lyrica steps closer, “Andrius, what are you talking about?”

“Why did you help me?!”

“Andrius, we didn’t know-”

“You should have,” Andrius stands up, “You should have stopped me!”

Lyrica looks at him worriedly. He’s not listening.

Jandor watches in horror from behind the bunker’s walls. Quickly stumbling to pull out a scroll from his bag, he does his best to keep his eyes on Andrius. Terrified, he does his best to keep himself together.

Andrius’ eyes look dulled. Despite him looking through what remains of his glasses, he is unable to see anything but Lyrica’s vague outline as she steps closer.

“Andry…”

Andrius roars, throwing all of his weight into the axe as he swings it towards Lyrica.

Lyrica quickly steps backwards of the way, yelling, “Andrius! Stop!”

The axe pierces the ground in front of Andrius, cracking the ground apart with a single blow. His eyes are bloodshot as he turns to look at her, “You should have said that before.”

Lyrica steps back, “Andrius! Listen to me!” Tripping on a rock, she hits the ground hard, “Stop!”

Raising the axe again, he readies another blow, before looking into Lyrica’s terrified eyes.

It is the first time Andrius saw her eyes. The slits are large and open, trying to gage everything around her.

Andrius is taken aback, unable to move. 

He can feel the terror in Lyrica’s eyes, his throat starting to close and tighten. His jaw starts to shake as tears fall down his face.

The axe weighs heavy Andrius’ hands. It drops to the ground. Falling to his knees, tears start to fall hard onto the ground. Trying to wipe his tears away, he knocks off his glasses.

With tears in his eyes, the world around him gets blurry. Unable to see, his breath starts to tremble.

Lyrica stands up. Doing her best to comfort Andrius, she pats his back.

Andrius feels his entire being start to tremble as he falls further onto his elbows. Banging a fist onto the ground, his claws dig into the palm of his hand.

Falling further, he puts his head down into the grass. Sobbing, Infernal apologies spill out of his mouth in trembling mumbles.

Lyrica pats his back, “Andry…”

Looking over to Hoji’s body, she feels a tinge of guilt. She turns back to Andrius, feeling her eyes starting to water as well.

“I- I’m…” Andrius says through sobs, “I’m- I’m so sorry…”

A tear rolls down Lyrica’s face as she does her best to hug Andrius.

“I- I… I should have known… I…”

Lyrica hand grips onto Andrius’ shirt, “Andry… Don’t say that… We… We didn’t know.”

Andrius pushes Lyrica’s arms away. Turning towards the blurry outline of her face, he yells, “I should have known!”

The ground around the two of them quivers. Lyrica falls over, landing onto the dirt hard.

Andrius’ mouth trembles, as he turns to look at Hoji’s body.

Crawling towards him, Andrius feels guilt wash over him. His throat tightens, and his eyes water, as he starts to see the blood that pooled around Hoji’s motionless body.

Picking Hoji up, Andrius can’t hold himself together any longer. His eyes overflow with tears, his arms trembling around Hoji’s limp body. Hugging him close, he screams, sobbing into his shoulder.

Lyrica is unable to bring herself to comfort Andrius any longer. Finding her glasses on the floor, she picks them up delicately. She looks up at Andrius once more, before quickly turning away to prevent herself from crying as well.

Andrius’ entire being starts to quiver as he holds Hoji’s head close to his chest.

Feeling tears fall down his face, he hugs Hoji as tight as he can.

He whispers, “I’m… I’m so sorry.”

Andrius’ chest aches in pain, as he starts to sob into Hoji’s shoulder.

"I- I love you, too."


	16. Acceptance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the sudden switch in tenses. This is basically the first draft still.

Seconds turn to minutes. Minutes turn to hours.

Eventually, the adventuring party return to Andrius. Eventually, Andrius returns to town. Eventually, Andrius laid in his bed alone.

Eventually, everyone held a funeral. 

Eventually, classes start up again. Andrius passes them all, he always does. However, people who returned from the summer break described Andrius as different. He was still always hard at work, but it was no longer about the work itself for him.

He graduated just fine -- top of the class. People would congratulate him on his hard work, but although Andrius had recovered from his experience. It kept haunting him.

He didn't get them that often, but he would wake up in the middle of the night shaking.

His husband would help him snap out of it, but Andrius had a difficult time returning to the real world that he's been living in for years now.

It had been ten years. He was the royal researcher. Usually his new research project helped distract him, but the research took place in the town where Hoji died. Andrius told his husband that he would be okay, but he's not sure if he really believes that.

The first night he stayed in the inn's room, he couldn't sleep. It was midnight by the time he decided to get up.

A young blue oni was climbing an apple tree, desperately trying to grab a low hanging apple. He reaches out as far as he could from the trunk of the tree.

"Hey! Don't you have any respect for the dead?!" a voice rang out through the trees.

The blue oni fell down, bark falling from the trunk along with him.

Andrius stepped out from the tree line, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Sorry, sir! I didn't know! I- I'm just hungry!" the blue oni yelled back.

Andrius sighed, "You wouldn't know."

The blue oni watched as Andrius walked towards the tree. Andrius was wearing a suit not fit for walking in the forest. Mud stained his pristine leather shoes. He stood in front of the tree.

"He was an oni too," Andrius sighed, "Well, I guess half-oni."

"Wh- What's he doing out here?"

"He- He died protecting this forest. It felt only right that he would protect it in the afterlife too," a tear rolled down Andrius' cheek as he looked down at the broken bark.

"I- I think I'll go."

"N- No. Here," Andrius looked up and grabbed an apple from a low hanging branch. "You- You can stay," Andrius said offering the apple to the young oni.

The oni very quickly began wolfed it as if he hadn't eaten for days.

"Wow, you sure were hungry."

The blue oni doesnt look up from the apple and soon all that was left was the core.

Andrius looked towards the tree again, "I miss him, still." Andrius pauses for a moment, "I know I shouldn't. It's- It's been ten years."

The blue oni looks up, "Ten years?"

"Since- Since he died," Andrius looked down, "His bones lie entangled in this trees roots."

"You mean I'm eating the product of a dead oni?!" the young oni yells before spitting out whatever apple is left in his mouth.

Andrius snickers, "You changed your mind about that rather quickly."

"I can't eat dead people's fruits!"

Andrius smiles and looks back at the trunk of the tree. He close his eyes and grabs his face, "I hope you're- you're doing okay."

The young blue oni stared as tears flowed from Andrius' eyes.

Andrius put his hand down and sniffled.

The blue oni felt bad for staring and looked away, "I'll- I'll leave you be."

Andrius takes a deep breath, "W- Wait." He turned towards the blue oni, "You need a place to stay, don't you?"

"Why does that matter?"

"I- I can pay for a room at the inn."

"What? For what purpose? Do you want something from me?!"

"No. I just," Andrius sighs, "You don't need to repay me. I don't care if you leave in the morning. I just- I just don't want another person to die in this forest. I've- I've done enough damage."

The young oni looked at Andrius confused, "You've done enough?"

"Forget it," Andrius sighs, "What's your name?"

"G- Gaki."

"I'm the royal researcher of Tenno," Andrius looked down at Gaki, "Let- Let me help you."

Gaki's eyes flare up, "You mean- You mean you study magic?!"

Andrius looks at Gaki confused, "Much more than that, but yes."

Gaki's full attention was towards Andrius, "Could you teach me?!"

"Wh- What? I- I guess I could, but I- I'm not very good at it myself."

"Here, let me show you what I can do," Gaki throws his hand towards the ground and yells, "Firebolt!"

"Wait! Not in the-"

A poof of smoke appears on the ground.

"F- Forest," Andrius finishes his statement as he looks down at the ball of smoke, "Thank gods. Please- Please never do that again, not in the forest."

Gaki tilted his head, "Why not?"

"You might cause a forest fire."

"O- Oh, I- I guess you're right. Sorry."

"It's okay, just- just think the next time you cast magic, okay?"

"Al- Alright."

"I'll teach you what I can after we get some rest," Andrius says before looking back at the apple tree, "But I- I need to do something."

Gaki watches as Andrius walks back to the tree.

Andrius pulls out Hoji's worn journal, "I can never give you what you deserve, but I can return your journal." Andrius carefully places the journal on the ground, "It was never mine to keep. I'm- I'm sorry that I read it. I- I just felt better when it was around, like almost as if you- you were there with me." 

Andrius takes a struggled breath, "I- I wanted to tell you that I'm okay. Thanks- Thanks for caring."

Andrius wipes his tears with his sleeve and turns to look back at Gaki, "Let's get you a warm bed to sleep in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this book. I hope that you got through it relatively okay. I know this book is terrible, please criticize me in the comments. I personally really do not like this book -- despite me working on it for months. However, after all those months, I've found myself unhappy while making it. Therefore, I'm done with it. There was a point in time in which I enjoyed writing and editing this work, but now I don't find that I do -- and that's okay. I will be working on more, but there's no promises that they'll be as long as this one (even if I find myself writing practically five thousand words daily without even trying). If you enjoyed this book, I'm glad that you did. It's a large project that I worked many months on, and to say that I'm not proud of parts of it would be a lie. 
> 
> Past all of that, I'm glad you took your time out of your day to read this book. Thanks for the kudos, if you left any.
> 
> Oh, and as a last minute note: yes, this is a fan fiction about my player character (Hoji) and the npc (Andrius).
> 
> No, my other players haven't read this -- nor has the Dungeon Master. If they find this, I'm dead. I'm actually dead. I am so sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr? https://wolfbeware.tumblr.com/


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